3D contrast enhanced ultrasound for detecting endoleak following endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR)

CT angiography (CTA) for endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) surveillance involves irradiation and nephrotoxic X-ray contrast agents. Three-dimensional contrast enhanced ultrasound (3D CEUS) is a novel imaging technique that may be more sensitive to blood flow detection than CTA or 2D CEUS. 3D CEUS utilises positional information from magnetic field emitters to assemble all ultrasound reflections into a high-definition image. We compared 3D CEUS with CTA for the detection of endoleak and aneurysm expansion following EVAR.

3D CEUS (Curefab), 2D CEUS (Philips IU22), and CTA were compared in 30-paired images from 23 patients. Sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive value were calculated for 2D and 3D CEUS against CTA as the 'gold standard'. Pearson correlation was used to compare aneurysm sac diameter. Data were analysed using SPSS version 19.0.

30 paired 3D CEUS and CTA images were analysed from 23 patients. Endoleaks were detected in 17 images with CTA, 18 on 2D CEUS, and 18 on 3D CEUS. The sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive values of 3D CEUS to detect endoleak were 100%, 92%, 94%, and 100%, respectively. There was excellent correlation (r=0.935; p≤.0001) between CTA and 3D CEUS for AAA sac diameter. Only 3D CEUS detected the inflow and outflow arteries in all 18 scans with endoleak. 2D CEUS detected the inflow in 16 (88.8%) and CTA on 12 (66.6%) of the images.

3D CEUS may be more sensitive to endoleak following EVAR than either 2D CEUS or CTA.