Patient: AV Graft Disease: Medical Terminology

Aneurysm: Angiographically defined as a > 50% luminal enlargement compared to the proximal reference vessel diameter.

Angioplasty: Enlarging the lumen of a blood vessel with a balloon dilatation catheter to increase blood flow through the lumen.

Anticoagulant: Having the property to inhibit coagulation.

Balloon Angioplasty: Insertion of a catheter with a non-inflated balloon on the end into the narrowed area of the vessel.  During the procedure the balloon is inflated within the narrowed area of the artery, which compresses the overgrown tissue against the wall of the artery.  The balloon angioplasty procedure will temporarily allow for increase blood flow through the vessel.

Beta Radiation: A low penetrating form of radiation that requires minimum shielding for the patient, physician and staff.  The use of beta radiation allows the staff to stay in the room while the patient is undergoing radiation treatment.

Brachytherapy: In radiotherapy, treatment with ionizing radiation whose source is applied to the surface of the body or is located a short distance from the body area being treated.

Catheter: A thin, elongated plastic tube inserted into the body to provide access for diagnosis or treatment.

Lumen: The interior passageway of a blood vessel or catheter where fluid flows.

Patency: The condition of being widely open.

Radiation: Energy in the form of electromagnetic wave or high-speed subatomic particles.

Stent: Small, wire mesh-like tubes that are permanently implanted into an artery to keep it open.

Vascular Brachytherapy: Using radiation inside a blood vessel for the prevention or treatment of tissue overgrowth within the vessel that causes narrowing.