Yun Shen

Left Ventricular Thrombus Detected by Two- and Three-Dimensional Computed Tomographic Ventriculography A New Application of Helical CT

A67-year-old man presented with chest discomfort. At the age of 65 years, he had been hospitalized because of acute anteroseptal myocardial infarction. Coronary angiography and LVG were performed to evaluate his present status. The LVG revealed LV aneurysm. An LV thrombus at the apex was suspected (Figure⇓, A). By use of a new application of helical CT with contrast enhancement, ie, CT-VG, an LV aneurysm and the apical thrombus were demonstrated by both 2D and 3D CT-VG (Figure⇓, B …A67-year-old man presented with chest discomfort. At the age of 65 years, he had been hospitalized because of acute anteroseptal myocardial infarction. Coronary angiography and LVG were performed to evaluate his present status. The LVG revealed LV aneurysm. An LV thrombus at the apex was suspected (Figure⇓, A). By use of a new application of helical CT with contrast enhancement, ie, CT-VG, an LV aneurysm and the apical thrombus were demonstrated by both 2D and 3D CT-VG (Figure⇓, B …

The use of deblurring technique for improving the longitudinal resolution in helical CT of the head and neck region

We evaluated the use of deblurring technique by digital deconvolution for improving the longitudinal resolution in helical CT in a phantom and CT images of head and neck patients. After performing the helical scanning, overlapped axial images were reconstructed at 1/10 of the actual collimation. Then, the deblurring technique was performed. Results revealed that the resolution of slice profiles was improved after deblurring. Further, the longitudinal resolution increased as the strength of the deconvolution increased, at the expense of an increase in helical artifacts. The sharpness and visualization of horizontally running structures were improved in the reconstructed MPR, MPVR, MIP and 3D images in both the phantom and the images of all patients. Also, visualization of the peripheral vessels in CTAs was improved.

Clinical usefulness of the cardiac multi-detector-row CT

Along with improvement of the temporal and special resolution, multi-detector-row CT has become able to generate artifact-less heart images. We discuss the potential benefits of the newly developed cardiac application, demonstrating informative cases.Two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) cardiac images were produced throughout one cardiac cycle. By paging 2D and 3D images in cardiac cycle order, animated movies were generated. Cardiac imaging with multi-detector-row CT, acquired during a single breath hold, provides information about: (1) clear morphology of heart chambers and myocardium, (2) wall motion and systolic thickening, (3) myocardial perfusion, (4) volume assessment, and (5) coronary anatomy and pathophysiology.

Precision of the gallbladder ejection fraction obtained with Tc-99m-pyridoxyl-5-methyl-tryptophan (99mTc-PMT) hepatobiliary scintigraphy as compared with the contraction ratio in three-dimensional computed tomography

The gallbladder ejection fraction (GBEF) obtained with Tc-99m-pyridoxyl-5-methyl-tryptophan (99mTc-PMT) hepatobiliary scintigraphy has been used as a parameter of gallbladder function. To determine the accuracy of GBEF, the relationship with the contraction ratio of the gallbladder (GBCR) obtained with three-dimensional helical computed tomography (3D-CT) was studied.Patients and methods: A normal volunteer, 8 patients suffering from cholecystolithiasis and a patient with gallbladder dyskinesia were examined. The percent initial dose (%ID) for the gallbladder and GBEF with hepatobiliary scintigraphy were used to compare the volume of the gallbladder and GBCR which was measured by 3D-CT.Results: The %ID of the gallbladder was correlated with the volume of the gallbladder by 3D-CT (Y=1.000X− 1.818, r= 0.928). GBEF was correlated well with GBCR by 3D-CT (Y= 0.916X + 6.296, r = 0.975).Conclusions: The %ID of the gallbladder obtained with hepatobiliary scintigraphy may be a good indicator of the volume of the gallbladder. The accuracy of GBEF was confirmed by comparison with 3D-CT examination. GBEF is considered a useful parameter of pathophysiological gallbladder function.