EVAR-eaSE: An Easy-to-Use Software for Planning Sac Embolization in EndoVascular Aneurysm Repair Procedure

Abstract

Background: Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) has become the primary choice of treatment for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and preventive intraoperative AAA sac embolization (SE) is an effective way to reduce endoleaks after EVAR. Preoperative planning of AAA SE has not been standardized yet, and typically requires a quite long and operator-dependent procedure using standard EVAR planning software. Methods: We introduce ‘EVAR-eaSE’, a software tool that we have developed to help vascular surgeons to plan the optimal SE procedure during EVAR, providing semi-automatic AAA segmentation and 3D modeling starting from patient scans, and then computing the aneurysm volumes. A preliminary accuracy evaluation on radiological phantoms, and a comparison with the commercial 3Mensio software for EVAR planning are carried out. Results: EVAR-eaSE software showed a good level of accuracy in aneurysm volume reconstruction and calculation (mean difference of 2.5% between real and segmented phantom volumes). A strong positive correlation (r = 0.940, r = 0.954, p < 0.001) was found between EVAR-eaSE computation of AAA Lumen and AAA Total volumes and the same measurements obtained with 3Mensio, for a database of 26 AAA cases. Conclusions: EVAR-eaSE demonstrated to be an easy-to-use, objective and accurate tool to assist the vascular surgeons in preoperative planning of SE during EVAR.

Keywords

• aneurysm
• EVAR
• embolization
• 3D modeling
• image segmentation
• preoperative planning