ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to illustrate the spectrum of central airway and vascular complications in lung transplantation using MDCT, with an emphasis on the usefulness of advanced postprocessing techniques. CONCLUSION: MDCT is an invaluable tool in the diagnosis, evaluation, and posttreatment assessment of central airway and vascular complications in lung transplant recipients. Advanced postprocessing techniques provide complementary information that is visually accessible and anatomically meaningful for the clinician.
Subject(s)
Lung Transplantation , Postoperative Complications/diagnostic imaging , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods , Adult , Aneurysm, False/diagnostic imaging , Bronchial Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Contrast Media , Female , Humans , Iohexol/analogs & derivatives , Male , Middle Aged , Pulmonary Embolism/diagnostic imaging , Pulmonary Valve Stenosis/diagnostic imaging , Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted , Radiography, Thoracic , Tracheal Diseases/diagnostic imagingABSTRACT
The introduction of multislice CT into clinical radiology constitutes a quantum leap that significantly widens the scope of vascular CT imaging. The advances over conventional spiral CT have been quantitative, mainly in terms of increased image acquisition speed which provides unprecedented volume coverage and spatial resolution. Moreover, significant technical innovations, such as cardiac scanning capabilities, have brought about a qualitative shift towards applications that were thought to be beyond the scope of CT imaging. This way multislice CT offers a wealth of new opportunities for quickly and accurately diagnosing suspected vascular disease in all organ systems; however, as we move towards faster and faster image acquisition techniques, we are also facing new challenges that require development of novel strategies in order to take full advantage of the increased capabilities of multislice CT in its current form and future generations of CT scanners.
