Endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm sizing and case planning using the TeraRecon Aquarius workstation

The gold standard for preoperative evaluation of an aortic aneurysm is a computed tomography angiogram (CTA). Three-dimensional reconstruction and analysis of the computed tomography data set is enormously helpful, and even sometimes essential, in proper sizing and planning for endovascular stent graft repair. To a large extent, it has obviated the need for conventional angiography for morphologic evaluation. The TeraRecon Aquarius workstation (San Mateo, Calif) represents a highly sophisticated but user-friendly platform utilizing a combination of task-specific hardware and software specifically designed to rapidly manipulate large Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) data sets and provide surface-shaded and multiplanar renderings in real-time. This article discusses the basics of sizing and planning for endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair and the role of 3-dimensional analysis using the TeraRecon workstation.