青少年与老年人盆腔动脉三维CT显示差异性研究

Pelvic artery representation on three-dimensional reconstructed multislice spiral CT images:variability between the young and the elderly

目的利用多层螺旋CT进行盆腔动脉造影,三维重建盆腔动脉并分析青少年与老年人盆腔动脉显示能力的差异性。方法青少年受试者为青年医务工作者,老年受试者为常规冠状动脉体检者,均无冠心病和糖尿病史。经肘正中静脉为受试者注射造影剂(速度为3.5ml/s)后,使用16排多层螺旋CT进行盆腔扫描,图像采集后经遮盖容积重建技术重建盆腔动脉,鉴别显影血管及各分支。结果青少年盆腔动脉显示良好,受试者均显示出3～4级以下血管,分支丰富并有弹性;而老年人盆腔动脉显示能力差,只能显示到2～3级动脉,动脉僵硬且分支稀少。结论青少年和老年人盆腔动脉形态存在差异,老年人盆腔动脉显示能力显著降低,造成这种差异的原因与动脉硬化有关。我们在进行盆腔动脉形态学研究时,需要考虑到人体的生理状态,盆腔动脉功能的衰退将导致血管形态学改变。

Objective To analyze the variability in pelvic artery representation on three-dimensional reeonstrueted multisliee spiral CT images between young adults and the elderly. Methods Eight young adult volunteers from the medical staff and 8 elderly people undergoing regular coronary artery examination, who were all free of coronary artery disease and diabetes meUitus, were enrolled in this study. After administration of the contrast agent through the median eubital vein at 3.5 ml/s, the subjects underwent contrast-enhanced CT angiography of the pelvic arteries utilizing a 16-row multisliee spiral CT. The images were collected and processed with volume reconstruction （VR） technique for three-dimensional reconstruction to distinguish the arteries and their branches. Results Good visualization of the pelvic artery was observed on the reconstructed CT images of the young subjects, which revealed in detail up to the third- and even the fourth-order vessels, and the arteries were smooth and had plenty of branches; but in the elderly only the second- or third-order vessels were shown, and the arteries appeared stiff with only a few branches. Conclusions Compared with the young adults, the elderly have generally poor visualization of the pelvic arteries on three-dimensional reconstructed multisliee spiral CT images possibly in association with atheroselerosis and the functional deterioration of the blood vessels in the latter, which is relative to vascular morphologie changes, suggesting the necessity of studying the pelvic vessels with developmental and functional methods.