Spiral CT angiography in an infant with a hypoplastic aortic arch

Abstract

The advent of multislice computed tomography (CT) has revolutionised the performance of body CT and allowed the development of CT angiography (CTA). CTA is a robust and minimally invasive method of visualizing the arterial vascular system. The newer generation of multidetector scans has allowed for shorter scanning times with no respiratory misregistration at peak vascular opacification following peripheral contrast injection. The volume of data obtained from these scans can be further manipulated to generate two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) images with no increase in radiation to the patient. Hence, CTA has gained popularity and importance as the alternative diagnostic tool especially for ill patients in which conventional angiography is inadvisable. We present an infant with coarctation of the aorta and hypoplastic aortic arch, in which CT angiography was used to pinpoint the diagnosis. The CT findings were subsequently confirmed at surgery. © 2006 Biomedical Imaging and Intervention Journal. All rights reserved.