4D-CT angiography with arterial- and venous-phase anatomical pre-surgical approaches in cases with head and neck neoplasms

Abstract

Purpose: The relationship between neoplasm and its surrounding vascular structure is essential to the following clinical treatment plan. In this study, 4D computed tomography angiography (4D-CTA) with a wide scan range and dynamic phases of arteriography and venography was used to describe detailed anatomical information for pre-surgical approaches.

Materials and methods: From January 2011 to February 2012, we subjected 13 patients with head and neck neoplasms to 4D-CTA. 4D-CTA was performed by a multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) scanner of 320 detectors. The parameters were set to a 0.5 mm section thickness, at 0.5 second per rotation, 80 kV and 150 mA. The scan range was set depending on the tumor size, with a maximal setting of 16 cm. A 30 mL contrast medium with 60 mL saline was injected at the rate of 5–7 mL per second based on the vascular patency, scanning every 2 seconds from the 16th to the 28th second after contrast injection.

Results: The vasculature surrounding the tumors was successfully illustrated in all cases. The 4D-CTA provided detailed vascular information that was compatible with the surgical and angiographic findings.

Conclusion: 4D-CTA with a wide scan range and precise injection timing methods facilitated an anatomical approach to tumor-related vascular structures, providing detailed vascular information. This non-invasive technique may be useful for evaluating neoplasms and developing treatment plans, as an alternative to conventional angiography.

Keywords:

• Brain neoplasm
• head and neck
• surgical approach
• four-dimensional CT angiography (4D-CTA)

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

國泰醫療財團法人國泰綜合醫院

參與受試者知情同意書

先生/女士 鈞鑒:

您於2011年1月至2013年5月期間有于國泰醫院接受影像檢查, 現在有學術研究計畫需要使用到您之前在院的影像資訊, 以有助於醫學進步及將來類似情況的病人, 特來函說明且徵求您的意見, 並請放心此研究不會洩漏您的任何個人資訊（包括姓名, 地址電話, 日期資訊, 病歷號、照片、各種證件編號、其他可識別個人之資料或特徵）亦不會對您有任何權益或隱私的損害。

不勝感激

國泰醫院放射線科

另: 請於收到信後7日內使用回函信封回覆您的意見。

Table