Medical specialty: Angiology
Angiology belongs to the medical field of internal medicine within which it represents a specialization. It deals with vascular diseases (arteries, veins, lymphs) and their origin, treatment and prevention. Angiology is considered the youngest branch of internal medicine. In comparison to other fields of medicine, there are only few physicians in Germany that are purely practicing as angiologists.
This branch of medicine led to a method of examination called “angiography”: It enables radiological imaging of the distribution and the flow of blood and lymphatic fluids. For this purpose, a contrast agent is injected into the patient. Then a catheter is inserted into the corresponding individual vessels. Furthermore, the ultrasound scan is part of a common examination method of angiology.
- Typical angiological diseases include:
- Vascular malformations
- Inflammatory vascular disease
- Arterial occlusive disease
- Vascular ruptures
- Vascular embolism
- Varicose veins
- Thrombosis
- Venous insufficiency
- Lymphedema