Incremental value of color coding in 3D volume rendered CT images for interpretation of complex cardiothoracic vascular malformations

Computed tomography jellyfish angiography in pediatric endovascular interventions

Contrast pooling (CP) reconstruction is widely used in computed tomography (CT) studies of congenital heart diseases. However, endovascular devices are usually obscured in CP. To improve visualization of the vascular lumen, we developed jellyfish angiography (JFA), a semitransparent blood pool inversion technique. Ten CT studies of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) or coarctation of the aorta (CoA) were selected retrospectively for reconstruction using both CP and JFA. Four of the studies were conducted before the endovascular intervention, and six were conducted after the intervention. Radiology residents and pediatric cardiologists completed questionnaires regarding the reconstruction models. For radiology residents, JFA was superior to CP in postintervention PDA diagnosis, device evaluation, and overall satisfaction. For pediatric cardiologists, JFA outperformed CP in both PDA and CoA postintervention cases. Our findings show that JFA overcomes the disadvantages of CP and can improve the visualization of intraluminal devices which is essential for endovascular treatment evaluation.