VHSG procedure

As previously reported, ¹³ 20 ml of non-ionic iodine contrast medium was diluted to 10%. The examinations were performed on an apneic patient using an Aquilion 32 slice CT apparatus (Toshiba, Otawara, Japan) and post-processed on a AW Server 4.6 workstation (General Electric Healthcare, Milwaukee). The radiation dose used, using interactive reconstruction, was set using a tube voltage of 120 kV and mAs in automatic modulation. Tomographic slices were obtained during the injection of the contrast medium, that were 0.5 mm thick in the caudocranial direction, beginning 3 s before the end of the injection. Image acquisition was stopped manually by the physician when the contrast medium was no longer seen in the pelvic structures. Post-processing was performed: multiplanar reconstruction, curved planes, maximum intensity projection, 3D volume rendering and virtual endoscopy. The mean patient effective dose was 6.05 ± 3.08 millisieverts (mSv). The average scan time was 20 s.