angiogram

Term: angiogram

Literally meaning: “the record or image of a vessel”

Origin: Anc Greek

αγγείο/aggio (=vessel, receptacle) > άγγος/aggos(=tube)

+γράμμα /gramma(=letter) > γράφω/grapho(=write)

Coined/History

This technique was first developed in the year 1927 by a Portuguese physician and neurologist Egas Moniz who performed the first cerebral angiogram in Lisbon in 1927, and Reynaldo Cid dos Santos performed the first aortogram in the same city in 1929. The first attempt at cardiac catheterization and angiocardiography was made by Forsmann in 1929. Cardiac cauterisation is where a tube is inserted directly into the arteries surrounding the heart, and a substance is put into the blood which contrasts with the tissue of the heart. A further turning point came in 1941 when Cournand demonstrated that cardiac catheterization was a safe method in man. In 1953, a final major milestone was reached when Seldinger developed his percutaneous technique for cardiac catheterization. Using this technique, the catheter is introduced into the body at a remote site, usually the femoral artery and the wire is threaded up the arterial system to the heart where the dye is introduced. 

Definition

Angiogram is a form of imaging of the arteries and veins by means of of an X-ray picture during angiography.