Three-dimensional ultrasound improves identification of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms reaching the threshold for repair

Advanced ultrasound techniques in arterial diseases

Ultrasound (US) remains a valuable modality for the assessment of vascular diseases, with conventional sonographic techniques such as grayscale and Doppler US used extensively to assess carotid atherosclerosis and abdominal aortic aneurysms. However, conventional US techniques are inherently limited by factors such as operator dependency and limited field of view. There is an increasing interest in the use of advanced sonographic techniques such as contrast-enhanced US (CEUS) and 3-dimensional (3D) US to mitigate some of these limitations. Clinical applications of advanced sonographic techniques include surveillance of abdominal aortic aneurysm, post-endovascular aortic repair, and carotid atherosclerotic plaques. Recently published studies have demonstrated that CEUS and 3D US are superior to conventional US and comparable to computed tomography for certain vascular applications. Further research is required to fully validate the application of advanced sonographic techniques in evaluating various atherosclerotic diseases.