Abstract:

Objective　To analyze and evaluate the value of CT virtual endoscopy(CTVE) in accurately distinguishing the variation type of the portal vein（PV）.　Methods　The study included retrospectively evaluated 32 patients (20 males, 12 females) who had undergone routine abdominal MSCT. 15 patients with trifurcation variation of the main PV（MPV）verified by VR and MIP, and 17 patients with the trifurcation variations of the right PV（RPV）were emphatically analyze the lumen structures at the point of trifurcation，such as the short PAPV-LPV trunk or the  short RAPV-RPPV trunk, and then the CTVE was adopted to identify the short common trunk from trifurcation, and compared the results with that of classical techniques.　Results　Trifurcation of MPV was observed in nine of fifteen patients (60%), which were verified by CTVE as the short RAPV-LPV trunk or short RAPV-RPPV trunk; Trifurcation of RPV appeared in six from 17 patients(35%), with the VII segmental branch(right posterior portal vein) arising from the main portal vein, the right anterior segmental branch and the left portal vein sharing a common trunk. In addition, we found that 2 patients were normal(12%). With the analysis of CTVE, only 15 cases, were truly trifurcation, with the positive rate of 47%. Conclusions　CTVE is valuable for demonstrating the sequence of intracavity bifurcation, and clearly distinguishing the trifurcation from the short common trunk, which can be used to analyze anatomic features of portal vein more accurarely.

Key words:  CTVE；　Rifurcation；   , The short common trunk；   , MIP