Detectability of subsegmental pulmonary vessels in 64 MDCT-pulmonary angiography.

Objective: Identification of subsegmental pulmonary vessels is the basis for identifying subsegmental embolism. In the past studies have been performed to evaluate the depiction rate of spiral CT scanners. In this study the detection rate of subsegmental vessels using 64 MDCT (Sensation 64, Siemens, Germany) has been analyzed.Materials and Methods: Study population consisted of 55 consecutive patients with suspected pulmonary embolism. Standard acquisition parameters were applied using 1.2 mm collimation. An overall of 3127 segmental and subsegmental vessels was counted.Results: An overall depiction rate of 98% for the subsegmental vessels could be demonstrated.Conclusion: In times of increasing slice numbers and faster acquisition techniques, recent technical equipment allows better depiction of subsegmental pulmonary vessels. Anatomic regions of the subsegmental pulmonary vasculary that proved to be difficult to depict in the past can now be visualized more exactly.