Abstract

Background: Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is one of the big success stories in diagnostic radiology. Spiral CT has made it possible to cover body regions so rapidly that the transient enhancement of vascular system following intravenous contract injection could be captured during one scan.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic acumen of noninvasive CTA for assessment of abdominal aorta and lower extremity vasculature, using multi-slice computed tomogaphic acquisition and post-processing for vessel analysis.

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried on 60 patients. A detailed demographic and clinical evaluation was carried out. 64 slice CT scan was used for evaluating the abdominal aorta and lower limb arterial system. CTA was performed on MDCT machine using the described protocol.

Result: Atherosclerosis was found the most common cause of the arterial-occlusive disease in this study (42.42%). Vasculitis was the least common cause (15.15%) of the arterial-occlusive disease. Males were mostly affected by atherosclerotic vascular occlusion. Popliteal artery was the most commonly involved segments in the arterial-occlusive group contributing 66.66% of the total cases. A total of seven cases of renal arterial disease was encountered. A total of six cases of abdominal aortic aneurysm were encountered. Angulation of aneurysmal neck was less than 60° in five cases.

Conclusion: In view of the observed evidence, it was concluded that CTA definitely plays an indispensable role in the evaluation of disease of abdominal aorta and peripheral run arteries.

Key words: Diagnostic acumen, angiography, vessel analysis