Direct comparison of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging for characterization of posterior left atrial morphology.

Objective: Accumulating evidence points to the central importance of the posterior left atrium (PLA) for atrial fibrillation (AF). Catheter ablation intended to cure AF is increasingly practiced; performance and assessment of this procedure is enhanced by accurate imaging of PLA anatomy. Prior reports have suggested that both computed tomographic (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques provide accurate PLA images.

Intracranial volume changes in craniosynostotic rabbits: effects of age and surgical correction.

Background: The premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures, termed craniosynostosis, alters normal brain growth patterns and results in compensatory changes in the cranial vault. The authors previously reported that bilateral coronal suture fusion resulted in a reduction in intracranial volume in a rabbit model of nonsyndromic, familial coronal suture synostosis.

Methods: The current follow-up study involved collecting cross-sectional three-dimensional computed tomographic head scans from 142 rabbits (70 normal, 44 with uncorrected synostosis, and 28 synostosed rabbits with coronal suturectomy) at 0, 10, 25, 42, 84, and 126 days of age.

Multi-detector row CT of the left atrium and pulmonary veins before radio-frequency catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.

Radio-frequency catheter ablation (RFCA) of the distal pulmonary veins and posterior left atrium is increasingly being used to treat recurrent or refractory atrial fibrillation that resists pharmacologic therapy or cardioversion. Successful RFCA of atrial fibrillation requires resolution of abnormal rhythms while minimizing complications and can be achieved with precise, preprocedural, three-dimensional (3D) anatomic delineation of the target, the atriopulmonary venous junction. Three-dimensional multi-detector row computed tomography (CT) of the pulmonary veins and left atrium provides the necessary anatomic information for successful RFCA, including (a) the number, location, and angulation of pulmonary veins and their ostial branches unobscured by adjacent cardiac and vascular anatomy, and (b) left atrial volume.

Characterization of left atrium and distal pulmonary vein morphology using multidimensional computed tomography.

Objectives: This study was designed to examine the dimensions and morphology of left atrial (LA) and distal pulmonary veins (PVs) using multidetector helical computed tomography (MDCT).

Background: Detailed knowledge of LA and PV anatomy will assist in the development of techniques for ablative intervention. Multidetector helical computed tomography is a method for multidimensional imaging of cardiac anatomy.