Comparison in preoperative evaluation effects of abdominal enhanced CT two-dimensional coronal imaging versus three-dimensional vascular reconstruction for critical blood vessels in right colon cancer

Abstract

Objective To compare the evaluation effects of abdominal enhanced computed tomography (CT) coronal imaging versus three-dimensional (3D) vascular reconstruction for critical blood vessels in right colon cancer. Methods The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 50 patients with right colon cancer who were admitted to Changhai Hospital Affiliated to Naval Medical University from January to September in 2018 were collected. There were 33 males and 17 females, aged from 33 to 86 years, with an average age of 63 years. All the 50 patients underwent abdominal multi-slice CT examination on the same CT equipment. The CT examination data were analyzed by two-dimensional (2D) coronal imaging and 3D vascular reconstruction. Observation indicators: (1) anatomical type of Henle trunk; (2) the length of Henle trunk and surgical trunk; (3) the positional relationship between ileocolic vein (ICV) and ileocolic artery (ICA). Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean±SD, and count data were represented as absolute numbers. Kappa coefficients were used to measure the consistency between anatomical types of Henle trunk on 2D coronal images and on 3D vascular reconstructed images. Pearson coefficients were used to evaluate the correlation between the length of Henle trunk and surgical trunk on 2D coronal images and on 3D vascular reconstructed images. Bland-Altman method was used to assess the consistency between the length of Henle trunk and surgical trunk on 2D coronal images and on 3D vascular reconstructed images. Results (1) Anatomical type of Henle trunk: on the 2D coronal images, 43 of 50 patients had the Henle trunk and 7 had no Henle trunk. On the 3D vascular reconstructed images, 44 of 50 patients had the Henle trunk and 6 had no Henle trunk. There were 2, 21, 17, 3 patients classified as type 0, Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ of Henle trunk on the 2D coronal images of 43 patients. There were 6, 19, 16, 3 patients classified as type 0, Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ of Henle trunk on the 3D vascular reconstructed images of 44 patients. Six patients with no Henle trunk, 2 in type 0, 18 in type Ⅰ, 15 in type Ⅱ, and 3 in type Ⅲ had the same anatomical type of Henle trunk on the 2D and 3D images. The consistency between anatomic types of Henle trunk on 2D coronal images and on 3D vascular reconstructed images was high (κ=0.830, 95% confidence interval: 0.705-0.956, P<0.05). (2) The length of Henle trunk and surgical trunk: on the 2D coronal images, 43 of 50 patients had the length of Henle trunk as (10±5)mm, and 42 of 50 patients had the length of surgical trunk as (34±12)mm. On the 3D vascular reconstructed images, 44 of 50 patients had the length of Henle trunk as (9±5)mm, and 43 of 50 patients had the length of surgical truck as (35±12)mm. The correlation between the length of Henle trunk and surgical trunk on 2D coronal images and on 3D vascular reconstructed images was positive (r=0.872, 0.979, P<0.05). Bland-Altman plot showed a high consistency between the length of Henle trunk and surgical trunk on 2D coronal images and on 3D vascular reconstructed images (P<0.05). (3) The positional relationship between ICV and ICA: on the 2D coronal images, 24 of 50 patients had anterior crossing between ICV and ICA, 26 had posterior crossing between ICV and ICA. On the 3D vascular reconstructed images, 24 of 50 patients had anterior crossing between ICV and ICA, 26 had posterior crossing between ICV and ICA. There was a complete consistency in the positional relationship between ICV and ICA on the 2D coronal images and on 3D vascular reconstructed images. Conclusion Abdominal enhanced CT coronal imaging and 3D vascular reconstruction have the similar evaluation effects for position of critical blood vessels in right colon cancer, with a good consistency. Key words: Colonic neoplasms; Right colon cancer; Critical vessels; Assessment; Computed tomography; Three-dimensional vascular reconstruction; Consistency; Analysis; Gastrocolic trunk of Henle