Three-dimensional CT angiographic assessment of vascular diseases using various postprocessing techniques: the voxel transmission and cruising eye view methods and their respective merits.

BACKGROUND: To assess the clinical usefulness of three-dimensional CT angiography (3D-CTA) with newly-developed three-dimensional reconstruction techniques; voxel transmission (VT) and cruising eye view (CEV) methods, for performing minimally invasive diagnostic imaging of vascular diseases. METHODS: Design: retrospective comparative study. Setting: University Hospital, Japan. Patients: fifty-five patients with vascular lesions confirmed by catheter angiography (20 patients with aortic aneurysms, 10 patients with aortic dissection, and 25 patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease). Main outcome measures: minimally invasive, three-dimensional diagnosis of vascular diseases. RESULTS: Angiogram-like images with a diagnostic quality similar to that of catheter angiography were obtained by the three-dimensional CT angiography/voxel transmission (3D-CTA/VT) method. This method is useful for treatment planning and also valuable for assessing the effectiveness of treatment. Three-dimensional endoscopic images of the vessel interior were obtained by the three-dimensional CT angiography cruising eye method (3D-CTA/CEV). This also yielded precise information about the relationship between the vascular lesions and the aortic orifices. CONCLUSIONS: Three-dimensional CTA/VT and three-dimensional-CTA/CEV enable visualisation of vascular lesions from an infinite number of viewing angles, and are useful as minimally invasive diagnostic techniques for imaging the vasculature.