Affiliations: Institut für Klinische Radiologie, Klinikum der Ludwigs-Maximilian-Universität München – Campus Großhadern, München, Deutschland
Note: [] Corresponding author: Dr. med. Andreas Helck, Institut für Klinische Radiologie, Universitätsklinikum der LMU München – Campus Grosshadern, Marchioninistr. 15, 81377 München, Deutschland. Tel.: +49 89 7095 3620; Fax: +49 89 7095 8832; E-mail: andreas.helck@med.uni-muenchen.de
Abstract: Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of US image fusion in the clinical routine and to discuss potential benefits for follow-up after renal transplantation. Materials and methods: 15 patients with a renal transplant were prospectively included in the study. For all of them, a previously performed CT- or MRI-scan covering the renal transplant was available. Each patient was investigated using ultrasound image fusion. Time needed for sucessful implementation of image fusion was registered. Subsequently, quality of image fusion was assessed by two experienced radiologists (10 and 5 years of experience) in consensus using a subjective 5 point rank scale (1 = best). Results: Image fusion was successfully performed in all patients. Time needed for setup of image fusion varied from 45–120 sec (85 ± 5 sec). The score for quality of US image fusion was 1.9 ± 0.7. Conclusion: Assessment of renal transplants using US image fusion is feasible and provides several potential benefits for the follow-up of renal transplants.
