CAN WE OPTIMIZE OUR ANGIOGRAPHIC VIEWS EVERY TIME - QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE-EVALUATION OF A NEW FUNCTIONALITY

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES. For determining the optimum angulations of t he x-ray beam with respect to the vascular morphology of a given patie nt, the authors present a solution combining a single-plane angiograph ic system and a dedicated procedure, METHODS. The clinical evaluation Of the vessel profiling acquisitions focuses on qualitative appraisal and quantitative analysis of conventional and optimum projections, RES ULTS. The qualitative evaluation demonstrates the pitfall for an opera tor to discern optimum from conventional projections, The 70% of prefe rences for vessel profiling bear witness to the constraints imposed oc casionally by the optimum angulations, which may be impracticable for various reasons, However, vessel profiling yields lesions inspection a t an optimum view, free of geometric foreshortening, Moreover, there i s less risk of superimposition with other branches, From a quantitativ e standpoint, vessel profiling unveils the lesion with a length signif icantly longer than in conventional view, CONCLUSIONS. Vessel profilin g offers a qualitative optimization of angiographic images and more ex act quantitative analysis.