Rapid assessment of abdominal aortic aneurysms by 3-dimensional ultrasonography

The purpose of this study was to assess the application and accuracy of 3-dimensional (3D) volume acquisition ultrasonography in the measurement of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs).

Thirty consecutive patients undergoing surveillance ultrasonographic examinations of known AAAs were scanned according to a conventional protocol, after which 3D volume data sets were acquired with a commercially available mechanical transducer. Maximum aortic diameters were measured with multiplanar reconstructions from the 3D volume data, and these were compared with those from the conventional technique.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm diameters were between 2.9 and 6.75 cm. For both anteroposterior and transverse diameters, a paired t test showed a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.98 (significant at the P = .01 level) and a coefficient of determination of 0.96. Bland-Altman analysis showed that the mean difference between the two sets of measurements was very close to 0 (P = .05). Thus, there was no significant difference between the conventional and 3D volume measurement methods. The scan acquisition time for the 3D volume data was only 3 seconds for each set (anteroposterior and transverse).

Three-dimensional ultrasonography using volume acquisition offers a new opportunity to acquire fast and reliable AAA measurements. The reduced scan times can be used to allow greater patient throughput and will help cope with the increasing workload of AAA surveillance. By archiving a complete set of data, 3D ultrasonography allows subsequent analysis and comparison of measurements. This study also suggests that the technique could be used for other applications with similar efficiency gains.