3D CT Scans Lead To More Successful Treatment Of Varicose Veins In The Lower Extremities

Main Category: Vascular
Also Included In: Radiology / Nuclear Medicine
Article Date: 30 Sep 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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3D CT scans provide a more comprehensive view of complex varicose veins (one of the most common diseases in the world) in the lower extremities, according to a study performed at the Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul, Republic of Korea. This technique aids surgeons to more effectively treat varicose veins.

One hundred patients with varicose veins in their lower extremities underwent 3D CT scans and "images attained were excellent in 76% of patients," said Jin Wook Chung, MD, and Whal Lee, MD, lead authors of the study. 3D CT scans also gave doctors a closer look at the great saphenous vein (the large superficial vein of the leg and thigh) in 99.5% of all lower extremities being examined.

Varicose veins sit deeply inside fat and 3-D CT allows doctors to have an overview of them. With 3D CT, "the patient and surgeon have a more comprehensive way to see the disease. It shows all aspects of the varicose veins that are important to detect before surgery to prevent recurrence," according to Drs. Chung and Lee.

"3-D CT makes it easy to understand the disease and make a surgical plan," said Drs. Chung and Lee.

This study appears in the October issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology. For a copy of the full study, please contact Heather Curry via email at hcurry@arrs.org.

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The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) was founded in 1900 and is the oldest radiology society in the United States. Its monthly journal, the American Journal of Roentgenology, began publication in 1906. Radiologists from all over the world attend the ARRS annual meeting to participate in instructional courses, scientific paper presentations and scientific and commercial exhibits related to the field of radiology. The Society is named after the first Nobel Laureate in Physics, Wilhelm Röentgen, who discovered the x-ray in 1895.

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