CT ANGIOGRAPHY - EXPANDED CLINICAL-APPLICATIONS

In this essay, the potential of vascular imaging with helical CT is ex plored. The speed and ease with which volumes of interest can be depic ted with high resolution and the ability of CT to resolve small differ ences in electron density allow imaging of vascular territories with I V injection of iodinated contrast materials [1, 2]. Vascular and combi ned vascular/soft-tissue/bone imaging make CT a powerful clinical tool . The technique is predominantly used for evaluation of atheroscleroti c disease of the carotid bifurcation, the renal arteries, and the majo r abdominal vessels [3-5]. A variety of display options, such as surfa ce rendering and maximum intensity projection (MIP), have different ad vantages and are often complementary. The time taken to produce clinic ally acceptable images has been markedly reduced to between 15 and 30 min. Some of the limitations are related to the length of vascular cov erage, the contrast load, and the need for exact timing. On the other hand, the technique is not affected by flow artifacts. CT angiography is now a reliable and practical clinical test that may be a useful adj unct to conventional CT.