Angiography is an imaging test that shows blood vessels in detail. A thin catheter is guided into an artery, usually in the wrist or groin, and contrast dye is injected while X-ray images are taken. Digital subtraction angiography removes the background so that vessels stand out clearly.
Patients seeking a radiologist in Kandivali for vessel imaging at Apex are first assessed, and CT or MR angiography may be done beforehand. Catheter angiography is chosen when more detail is needed, when bleeding must be located or when treatment may follow in the same sitting. The skin is numbed, and patients are usually awake. The procedure takes thirty to ninety minutes.
Angiography can examine the brain, neck, heart, kidneys, legs and abdomen. If a narrowing or bleeding source is found, the radiologist may treat it immediately with angioplasty, stenting or embolisation, as agreed beforehand.
It gives the most detailed view of blood vessels and allows diagnosis and treatment in one visit.
Risks and Considerations
Risks include bleeding or bruising at the puncture site, damage to the vessel, reaction to contrast dye, kidney strain, clot formation and, rarely, stroke. Patients lie flat for a few hours afterwards. Swelling, numbness, coldness of the limb or heavy bleeding needs urgent attention.
Angioplasty widens a narrowed blood vessel using a small balloon on a catheter. A stent, a tiny mesh tube, may then be placed to keep the vessel open. In interventional radiology, the procedure is used mainly for arteries and veins outside the heart, such as those in the legs, kidneys, neck and abdomen.
Patients in Mumbai seeking a radiologist for leg artery blockage at Apex may experience pain while walking, non-healing wounds, or cold feet. After angiography maps the narrowing, the procedure is done under local anaesthesia, with sedation if needed. The catheter is passed to the blockage, the balloon is inflated, and a stent is placed if required. Most patients go home within a day.
Antiplatelet medicines are prescribed afterwards, and patients are advised to stop smoking and to control diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol, since these protect the treated vessel.
How the Procedure Can Help
It restores blood flow without open surgery, relieves pain, improves walking distance and helps wounds heal.
Risks and Considerations
Risks include bleeding, vessel injury, re-narrowing, clots, reaction to contrast and kidney strain. Pain, coldness, colour change or numbness of the limb after the procedure needs prompt attention. Medicines must not be stopped without advice.
Embolisation blocks blood vessels on purpose, using coils, particles, glue or plugs delivered through a catheter. It is used to stop bleeding, shrink tumours or fibroids by cutting off their blood supply, and treat abnormal vessel connections.
Patients searching for a radiology hospital in Mumbai for bleeding control at Apex may need embolisation for severe bleeding after childbirth, trauma, gastrointestinal bleeding or nosebleeds. It is also used for vascular malformations, enlarged veins such as varicocele and as a step before surgery to reduce blood loss.
After angiography locates the vessel, a microcatheter is guided to the exact site, and the material is released.
The procedure is performed under local anaesthesia or sedation and may take one to three hours. Patients are monitored for some hours or overnight.
How the Procedure Can Help
It can control life-threatening bleeding quickly and treat conditions without open surgery, often with shorter recovery.
Risks and Considerations
Risks include pain, fever and nausea after the procedure, infection, blocking of a normal vessel nearby, kidney strain from contrast and bleeding at the puncture site. Worsening pain, persistent fever or signs of limb or organ ischaemia need urgent attention.
Radiofrequency ablation uses heat produced by electrical energy delivered through a needle electrode to destroy abnormal tissue. In interventional radiology, it is mainly used for small tumours of the liver, kidney, lung and bone, as well as for painful nerve conditions and certain thyroid nodules.
Patients seeking a radiologist in Mulund for tumour ablation at Apex are assessed with imaging and, usually, a tumour board review. The treatment suits small tumours, often under about three centimetres, and patients who cannot have surgery or prefer a less invasive option. Under ultrasound or CT guidance, the needle is placed in the tumour, and heat is applied for several minutes.
The procedure is done under sedation or general anaesthesia, and many patients go home the same or next day. Follow-up scans check whether the tumour has been completely treated.
How the Procedure Can Help
RFA can destroy small tumours through a needle, with less pain, smaller wounds and quicker recovery than surgery.
Risks and Considerations
Risks include bleeding, infection, burns to nearby organs, pain, incomplete treatment and recurrence. Results depend on tumour size and location. Fever, increasing pain or breathlessness after the procedure needs prompt review.
An image-guided needle biopsy removes a small sample of tissue from a lump or organ, using ultrasound, CT or fluoroscopy to steer the needle accurately. The tissue is examined by a pathologist to establish a diagnosis.
Patients looking for diagnostic imaging in Mumbai that includes biopsy at Apex may need sampling from the lung, liver, kidney, bone, lymph nodes, thyroid or breast. The doctor reviews blood thinners and clotting tests beforehand.
The skin is cleaned and numbed, and the needle is advanced under imaging. Patients may be asked to hold their breath briefly. Fine-needle aspiration collects cells, while core biopsy collects a thin cylinder of tissue.
The procedure takes about twenty to forty minutes, and patients are observed for a few hours afterwards. Results from the laboratory take several days.
How the Procedure Can Help
It provides a diagnosis without surgery, guiding treatment for infection, cancer and other conditions.
Risks and Considerations
Risks include bleeding, infection, pain and, in lung biopsy, air leaking into the chest (pneumothorax). Sometimes the sample is not enough, and a repeat biopsy is needed. Breathlessness, chest pain, fever or heavy bleeding afterwards needs urgent attention.
Catheter drainage removes unwanted fluid collections, such as abscesses, infected fluid, blocked bile or urine, or fluid around the lung, by placing a thin drain through the skin under imaging guidance. The drain stays in place until the collection has cleared.
Patients seeking a radiologist in Borivali for drainage procedures at Apex may need them for liver or abdominal abscesses, a blocked bile duct causing jaundice, a blocked kidney, or a collection of fluid in the chest.
Under ultrasound or CT, the skin is numbed, and a small tube, often a pigtail catheter, is inserted. Fluid is sent for testing, and antibiotics are given when infection is present.
Patients and families are taught how to care for the drain, keep the dressing dry and flush it if advised. The drain is often needed for days to weeks.
How the Procedure Can Help
It treats infection and blockage without major surgery and often leads to quick relief of pain, fever and jaundice.
Risks and Considerations
Risks include bleeding, infection, leakage, tube blockage or displacement and injury to nearby organs. Fever, increasing pain, no drainage, redness around the tube, or the tube falling out all require prompt attention.
Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty treat painful spinal compression fractures, most commonly caused by osteoporosis. Bone cement is injected into the broken vertebra through a needle, guided by X-ray imaging, to stabilise the fracture. In kyphoplasty, a small balloon is first inflated to create a space and restore some height.
Patients seeking diagnostic imaging and spine care in Mumbai at Apex are first evaluated with an MRI or CT to confirm that the fracture is recent and is the source of the pain. These procedures are usually considered after pain relief, rest, a brace and time have not helped.
The patient lies on their stomach, the skin is numbed, and the needle is placed through the back. The procedure lasts about thirty to sixty minutes per level. Many patients feel pain relief within a day or two and return home the same day or the next. Bone-strengthening treatment is started to prevent more fractures.
How the Procedure Can Help
It can quickly reduce fracture pain and help patients to move and walk again.
Risks and Considerations
Risks include cement leakage that may press on nerves, infection, bleeding, allergic reaction and new fractures in neighbouring vertebrae. The procedure is not suitable for healed fractures or active infection. Leg weakness, numbness or severe pain afterwards needs urgent attention.
Uterine fibroid embolisation treats symptomatic fibroids by blocking their blood supply. Tiny particles are injected through a catheter into the uterine arteries, causing the fibroids to shrink over weeks to months while preserving the uterus.
Patients searching for a radiologist in Kandivali for fibroid treatment at Apex are first assessed with ultrasound and often MRI, which map the number, size and position of the fibroids and check that the uterine arteries are suitable. Women usually have heavy periods, pelvic pressure, pain or frequent urination. The procedure is done under local anaesthesia and sedation, through a small puncture in the wrist or groin, and takes about one to two hours.
Patients typically stay overnight. Cramping pain, nausea and low-grade fever in the first days are common and are treated with medicines. Most women return to normal activity within one to two weeks.
How the Procedure Can Help
It can reduce heavy bleeding and pressure symptoms without surgery or removal of the uterus, and recovery is often shorter than after hysterectomy.
Risks and Considerations
Risks include infection, pain, passing of fibroid tissue, early menopause in some women and, rarely, the need for hysterectomy. Its effect on future pregnancy is less well established, so women who wish to conceive need individual advice. Fever, foul discharge or severe pain afterwards needs urgent review.
Thrombolysis is the use of clot-dissolving medicine to break up a dangerous blood clot. In interventional radiology, it is often catheter-directed, meaning a catheter is placed right into the clot so that the medicine acts where it is needed with less effect on the rest of the body. Mechanical devices may also remove clots.
Patients seeking a radiologist in Mumbai for clot treatment at Apex may have deep vein thrombosis with severe swelling, a sudden blockage of a leg artery, or other serious clots in veins or arteries. Imaging, blood tests and a review of bleeding risk come first, since this treatment cannot be used in some patients, such as those with recent surgery, bleeding or stroke.
The patient is observed in intensive or high-dependency care while the medicine runs, often for many hours. Blood tests and repeat imaging check progress. Blood-thinning medicines continue afterwards to prevent new clots.
It can dissolve clots quickly, restore blood flow, protect limbs and reduce long-term vein damage.
Risks and Considerations
The main risk is bleeding, which can occasionally be serious, including bleeding in the brain. Other risks include clot fragments travelling elsewhere, vessel injury and reaction to contrast. Sudden headache, black stools, vomiting blood or limb pain needs urgent attention.
A peripherally inserted central catheter, or PICC line, is a thin, soft tube inserted through a vein in the upper arm and advanced until its tip lies in a large vein near the heart. It gives dependable access for weeks or months, without repeated needle sticks.
Patients seeking diagnostic imaging in Mumbai and vascular access support at Apex may need a PICC line for long antibiotic courses, chemotherapy, intravenous nutrition or frequent blood tests. The radiologist uses ultrasound to choose a suitable vein and X-ray guidance to position the tip correctly. The skin is numbed, and the procedure takes about thirty to forty-five minutes.
The line is secured and covered with a dressing. Nurses teach patients and families how to keep the area clean and dry, how often to change the dressing and when to flush the line. Heavy lifting with the arm is avoided.
How the Procedure Can Help
A PICC line protects veins from repeated punctures and irritating medicines, and it makes long treatment courses easier and more comfortable.
Risks and Considerations
Risks include infection, blood clots in the arm, blockage, movement of the line and irritation of the vein. Fever, redness, swelling, arm pain, leaking, or a line that moves all need urgent attention.
