Three-dimension-rotational angiography and image acquisition:
After positioning of the pigtail catheter in the LA, a short test injection with 10 cc of contrast was given to confirm that the tip of the pigtail catheter was both in the center of the LA and the center of the screen in posterior-anterior (PA) view. A second projection was acquired in the right lateral view (RAO: 90°, cranial: 0°) to position the pigtail in the isocenter of the imaging system.
A test-rotation of the X-ray tube, covering from RAO 102° to LAO 92° angle was performed before image acquisition to ensure lack of collision. During apnea and fast ventricular pacing (220-250 ms), 100 cc of contrast was injected in the LA within four seconds and a fast rotation of the X-ray tube was performed to acquired and then processed to provide a CT-like dataset (Fig.1).