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| Typical Number in Hospital: 1 | Cost Bands: 7,8 | References: 4 |
This is an X-ray system producing a cine or video view of the movement of an X-ray contrast medium through the cardiovascular system. Such techniques are used to investigate arterial disease and also to provide information about the size of the chambers of the heart, the degree of pericardial, cardiac, and coronary calcification, and information about the function and haemodynamics of the heart and valves. Injection of the contrast medium into the coronary artery (cinecoronary arteriograms) may reveal the location and severity of plaque build-up. Injection just downstream to a heart valve gives an indication of the amount of regurgitation through the valve. Calculation may be made of ventricular volume and ejection fraction, assuming an ellipsoid shape at the ventricles.
Cine is normally produced on 70 mm or 105 mm film. Modern systems may include high resolution video and digital (computer aided) image enhancement.
Content and Design Copyright 2000 Dr. Malcolm C Brown. See Title Page for more details