Utilization of thick (3 mm) maximum intensity projection images in coronary CTA interpretation

Autor: Peter S. Fail, Michael T. Lu, Mary Daniels, Frank J. Rybicki
Rok vydání: 2006
Předmět:
Zdroj: Emergency radiology. 13(3)
ISSN: 1070-3004
Popis: elevated the role of the Emergency Radiologist in the screening of trauma patients or patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE), 64-slice multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and advanced image postprocessing workstations are poised to change the screening algorithms in patients who present to emergency medicine facilities with chest pain. As emergency radiologists acquire and gain experience with advanced CT technology, they should assume a leadership role in the imaging evaluation for a considerable fraction of this patient population, over 5 million patients annually. Less than 20% of the total patient population has coronary artery disease, emphasizing the potential of the high negative predictive value of CT. Moreover, the image acquisition and postprocessing software, already capable of chest pain imaging, continues to evolve. It may be the case that chest pain imaging will mirror the history of PE computed tomography angiography (CTA). That is, early single slice helical CT scanners with relatively thick slices, slow gantry rotation times, and evolving postprocessing tools were cumbersome, but they were both noninvasive and diagnostic. As CT evolved and Emergency Radiologists gained familiarity with the imaging and interpretation, PE CTA protocols became streamlined and routine, and are now a mainstay of our field. With the opportunity of expanding Emergency Radiology with chest pain patients comes the challenge of staffing, education, and both accurate and timely reporting. This letter offers some comments on accurate and timely reporting. In order to spatially resolve a proximal and midcoronary artery that has a 3-mm diameter, coronary CTA requires thin section (
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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