Somatom definition edge plus

Patients underwent either non-enhanced (n = 31, 52 %) or contrast-enhanced (n = 29, 48 %) chest CT on a 128-slice single-source CT scanner (SOMATOM Definition Edge Plus; Siemens Healthineers, Forchheim, Germany). Scan parameters were as follows: reference tube voltage 100 kV with automated tube voltage selection (CARE kV); 100 mAs reference tube current-time product with automated attenuation-based tube current modulation (CARE Dose4D); and gantry rotation time 0.28 s. The following reconstruction parameters were applied: sharp convolution kernel; slice increment, 1.0 mm; and slice thickness, 1.5 mm.

Vascular models were fabricated from preprocedural CT angiography (CTA) scans (Somatom Definition Edge Plus, Siemens, Germany) using a bolus of 120 mL non-ionic contrast media at an injection rate of 3.5 to 5mL/s. An arterial phase was acquired with a delay of 30 s following contrast injection. Axial reconstructions with thin slices of 1-mm thickness were generated to ensure a high grade of detail and to prevent the formation of steps when reconstructing the 3D model. The Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) images were exported from our picture archiving and communication system (PACS), and all patient identifiers were irreversibly removed. A positive ethics vote was obtained from the institutional review board (IRB-No.: 1004/2020).