Feasibility of three‐dimensional intravascular ultrasonography: preliminary clinical studies.

The aim of this study was to demonstrate the clinical utility of reconstructed three‐dimensional intravascular ultrasonography using a voxel‐based volume rendering technique. Three‐dimensional reconstruction of intravascular ultrasonographic data was performed in 12 patients with various vascular abnormalities during interventional radiology procedures. A stepping motor device was used to pull either a 12.5 or a 20 MHz catheter‐based transducer through the lumen of a variety of vessels at a rate of 1.5 mm/s. Images were downloaded to a Life Imaging System for three‐dimensional reconstruction. The value of three‐dimensional ultrasonographic imaging was evaluated in comparison to conventional intravascular ultrasonography. A variety of abnormalities were demonstrated in reconstructed three‐dimensional ultrasound imaging, including arterial atheroma and plaque, aneurysm and pseudoaneurysm, aortic dissection and stenosis (May‐Thurner syndrome). The vascular branches and accessory vessels, as well as their relationships to each other, were easily demonstrated on three‐dimensional imaging by selecting an appropriate angle, plane, and section of the image. The dimensions and shapes of the vascular lumen were determined in the longitudinal view. Three‐dimensional information proved useful for determining the distribution and type of plaque in vessels. Reconstructed three‐dimensional imaging allows for global evaluation of the dissection entry site, extent of the flap, and the false lumen of a pseudoaneurysm. Intravascular three‐dimensional ultrasonography provides information complementary to that obtained with two‐dimensional imaging. It supplies information about spatial relationships of anatomic structures that cannot be evaluated using conventional imaging methods.