SPIRAL COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY ARTERIAL PORTOGRAPHY WITH 3-DIMENSIONAL VOLUMETRIC RENDERING FOR ONCOLOGIC SURGERY PLANNING - A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES. Surgical resection of metastatic neoplasms o f the liver can prolong survival of patients. The decision to resect a tumor depends to a great extent on the location of lesions relative t o hepatic vasculature. Spiral computed tomography arterial portography (SCTAP) is an excellent technique for preoperative localization of tu mors. The addition of three-dimensional rendering of image data sets s hould enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the interpretation of the se data by the surgeon. METHODS. Fourteen patients with surgically and pathologically proven solitary and multiple metastatic hepatic neopla sms underwent SCTAP, Volume data sets thus derived were used to produc e life-like three-dimensional animated images through a process known as volumetric rendering. These images were presented to the surgeon, w ho evaluated them based on several criteria. RESULTS. Accurate and cli nically useful images were produced routinely in 13 of 14 patients. CO NCLUSIONS. Clinical utility of three-dimensional rendering of SCTAP da ta sets for preoperative localization of hepatic lesions has been show n retrospectively. A larger, prospective study is suggested to demonst rate the accuracy and efficacy of the technique.