Investigation of 3D Imaging Support of the Aortic Arch Using Plain Chest CT Images in Patients before Angiography

Abstract

Objective: Aortic arch bifurcation affects catheterization techniques. Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, non-contrast chest CT (computed tomography) for the purpose of lung field evaluation is increasing. By performing 3D construction of the aortic arch using chest CT images for lung field evaluation, we investigated whether the bifurcation morphology of the aortic arch can be intuitively evaluated.

Case Presentations: From March 2021 to December 2021, 25 patients were hospitalized at our hospital’s neurosurgery department and underwent angiography or endovascular treatment. Four neurosurgeons retrospectively examined the usefulness of 3D images created by non-contrast CT.

Conclusion: Nine patients (36%) had a type 3 aortic arch. One case had bovine arch. There were no cases in which visualization was poor, or it was difficult to grasp the morphology of the aortic arch, and it was possible to intuitively evaluate the morphology of the aortic bifurcation with 3D constructed images using non-contrast chest CT images.