The usefulness of three-dimensional echocardiography using intravascular ultrasound (3D-IVUS) for the measurement of plaque volume was evaluated by comparing plaque volume derived from 3D-IVUS with that directly measured in 10 autopsied iliac or femoral plaque models (5-15 mm long). Using IVUS (3.5 F, 30 MHz), sequential cross-sectional images for three-dimensional datasets were acquired with a motorized catheter pullback device connected to the three-dimensional reconstruction system. Three-dimensional reconstruction was performed from the sum of the two-dimensional cross-sectional views. Plaque volumes were calculated using a summation of disks algorithm based on the reconstructed multiple short-axis cross-sections from the three-dimensional data. Three-dimensional IVUS demonstrated a good correlation with direct measurement of plaque volume (y = 0.71x + 0.001, r = 0.80, SEE = 0.003 ml), so is useful for the measurement of plaque volumes in the experimental models.