الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Multi-detector CT has ushered in an exciting new era of central airways imaging. Multi-planar and 3D reconstruction images provide an important complementary method of viewing tracheal disorders and offer the potential to improve diagnostic confidence and accuracy and enhance communication and planning for procedures. The acquired image data can be transferred to a workstation for post-processing, allowing multi-planar reformatting and three dimensional (3D) reconstruction. Virtual bronchoscopy is an ideal technique for noninvasive evaluation of the tracheobronchial tree which has the advantage of being a noninvasive procedure that can visualize areas inaccessible to the flexible bronchoscope. It is considered a noninvasive modality for identifying tracheo-bronchial obstructions and endo-luminal lesions, as well as for assessing the tracheobronchial tree beyond stenosis. Multidetector CT has greatly overcomed the several limitations associated with routine axial CT images suffice for evaluating many airway abnormalities such as limited ability to detect subtle airway stenoses; underestimation of the cranio-caudal extent of disease; difficulty displaying complex 3D relationships of the airways; and inadequate representation of the airways that are oriented obliquely to the axial plane. |