Direct and virtual measurements of abdominal aortic aneurysms: three-dimensional printed models

OBJECTIVE: To validate the use of a three-dimensional printing system for metric and volumetric analysis of the segments of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In patients scheduled to undergo endovascular AAA repair, the computed tomography angiography (CTA) measurements obtained during the preoperative assessment of the patients were compared with those obtained by computed tomography of individualized three-dimensional biomodels. RESULTS: The volumetric assessment showed a discrepancy of 3-12%, and the difference between the areas was 10-16%. CONCLUSION: Computed tomography measurements of 3D-printed biomodels of AAAs appear to be comparable to those of threedimensional CTA measurements of the same AAAs, in terms of the metric and volumetric dimensions.