Patient-Specific Topographic Anatomy of the Deep Circumflex Iliac Artery Flap: Comparing Standard and Modified...

Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is reported to give insight into patient-specific anatomy of the flap pedicle preoperatively. We compared information available from standard CTA (s-CTA) with that gained by modifying the conventional CTA technique (modified CTA [m-CTA]). Dissected cadavers served as the control group.

We evaluated 16 s-CTA scans (32 deep circumflex iliac arteries [DCIAs]) and 12 m-CTA scans (17 DCIAs) using 3-dimensional software (Vesalius; ps-medtech, Amsterdam, The Netherlands). We dissected 17 cadavers (n = 34 DCIAs) to serve as the control group. The positions of 4 landmarks (anterior superior iliac spine, origin of DCIA, origin of ascending branch, and crossing of horizontal branch and iliac crest) were defined in a 3-dimensional coordinate system.

We found significant differences concerning the distances from the origin of the DCIA to the femoral bifurcation (P < .05) and the anterior superior iliac spine to the crossing point of the horizontal branch with the iliac crest (P < .05) between CTA scans and cadaveric studies. The imaging quality of the m-CTA scans was shown to be more consistent than and superior to that of the s-CTA scans. The visible length of the DCIA was longer on m-CTA scans (mean, 134.32 mm) than on s-CTA scans (mean, 73.62 mm). We could evaluate the branching off of perforators and the relation of the pedicle to the surrounding bone and soft tissue in more detail on m-CTA scans. Standard CTA allowed the bilateral evaluation of the pedicle, whereas m-CTA allowed the evaluation of the injected side only.

The quality and quantity of information available from CTA could be improved by modifying the s-CTA examination by injection as close as possible to the target vessel. Standard CTA delivered information about both sides, whereas m-CTA may need an additional injection for contralateral-side imaging.