There are many variations in branching and running of pulmonary artery (PA) and pulmonary vein (PV). It is desirable to separate as a surgical simulation of lung cancer and important to grasp before video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) to perform quick and safe. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate objective and subjective image quality (contrast attenuation, separation ability, and vascular visualization) of PA and PV of splitbolus single-phase protocol (SBSPP) in preoperative three-dimensional computed tomography angiography (3DCTA). CT value of PA was 410.2±71.0 Hounsfield unit (HU), PV was 245.1±24.8 HU, difference between CT value of PA and CT value of PV was 164.5±60.9 HU. Subjective image quality of PA and PV could be visualized until more than the segmental branch level. SBSPP can obtain sufficient CT value for separate visualization of PA and PV, and before VATS useful PA and PV 3D-CTA imaging.
Keywords: computed tomography (CT); pulmonary arteriovenous; single phase scan; split-bolus injection; three-dimensional computed tomography angiography (3D-CTA).