Aimee K. Armstrong, MD
3D Rotational Angiography (3DRA) represents the most innovative and sophisticated technique available in heart catheterization imaging for adult and pediatric patients. With its astonishing image quality, it offers significant benefit during diagnostic and interventional catheterizations. It provides a thorough anatomic evaluation with 2D CT-like images and 3D reconstruction of complex structures and interactions, including of the airway and esophagus, with views from an almost infinite number of angles. This allows for a quick and easy understanding of anatomy on which to base optimal therapeutic decisions and gantry angles. It also provides image-guided therapy with overlay of the 3D reconstruction on live fluoroscopy and can decrease radiation in the catheterization laboratory. The 3DI3 conference will give you and your team the necessary knowledge and hands-on post-processing skills to apply this in your laboratory quickly and simply. Furthermore, the 3DI3 faculty will show additional state-of-the-art 3D imaging capabilities, including 3D TEE, CT, and MRI, as they are used to complement and assist interventional catheterization for Congenital Heart Disease.
Drs. Gregor Krings and Aimee Armstrong direct the first 3DI3 conference in Columbus, OH in October 2016.
Despite the available 3DRA hardware and software from multiple vendors in the early part of this decade, a significant lack of user experience prevailed. Dr. Gregor Krings in Utrecht, The Netherlands, was an early adopter of 3DRA technology, and he started working on x-ray system settings, ventilation and pacing protocols, and injection timing, location, and volumes to optimize image quality and lower radiation dose. In order to share his experience and learn from others around the world with experience in 3DRA, Dr. Krings created the International 3DRA Conference in Utrecht in 2013. This platform for learning and collaboration turned into an annual meeting that was integral in spreading 3DRA technique and its many advantages for interventional therapies around the globe. The hallmarks of these conferences were hands-on rooms for learning 3DRA post-processing from different vendors, live cases, and a “cookbook” lecture on basic 3DRA techniques. After three years of success, it was time to expand both the content and the audience by moving the conference to the US.
To read the full article, please go to the September 2019 Issue of CCT.