Complex congenital heart defects and thoracic computed tomography in 3D stereoscopic relief: A qualitative assessment

Abstract

Management of patients with complex congenital heart defects (CHD) requires 3D imagination skills for the spatial evaluation of cardiac structures. Current 3D imaging [echocardiography, MRI, computed tomography (CT)], projected on a 2D screen, limits the appreciation of the relief and the interaction of anatomical structures. The contribution of 3D stereoscopic relief imagery (3D S/R), built by triangle-based mesh generation, is more qualitative than quantitative, which is why its use, rarely reported in the literature, must be evaluated. 3D S/R was used from 2009 to 2019, as much as the CT made it possible to define a Region of Interest. Data and segmentation processing have been used to obtain four different types of reconstructions: MultiPlanar (MPR), Volume Rendering Technique (VRT), Surface Rendering Technique (SRT), and 3D S/R. The anaglyph 3D S/R effect requires the wearing of glasses (red - cyan blue filters) distributed during the session ( Fig. 1 ). Five complex CHD will be presented in MPR, VRT, then in SRT and 3D S/R: – Ventriculo-Arterial Malposition, – multiple Ventricular Septal Defects, – Anomalous Aortic Origin of a Coronary Artery, – Coarctation and hypoplastic Aortic Arch, – abnormal Pulmonary Arterial Arborization with Major Aorto-Pulmonary Collateral Arteries. The qualitative evaluation [MPR + VRT versus SRT and 3D S/R] will be carried out by questions/answers [Wooclap™ interactive system - voting on smartphone, in streaming, using a code associated with the presentation], allowing a global rating of the five CHD, concerning: – the perception of the relief, – the understanding of the cardiopathy, – the probability of appropriation of this 3D S/R imagery. This presentation will allow: – to assess the potential influence of 3D S/R on the management strategy of CHD, – to compare these imaging studies with mesh generation techniques leading to the more commonly reported 3D printing.