Digital celiac arteriography.

Sixty patients underwent intraarterial DSA with injection into the celiac artery for evaluation of various hepatic, pancreatic, and splenic lesions. Twenty of these patients also underwent conventional arteriography for comparison. Excellent images during the early arterial phase (free of bone superimposition and artifacts) were obtained with DSA. The late arterial and parenchymal phases of the examination were less definitive when compared with conventional angiography. The venous phases of the liver studies were good and compared favorably in contrast and resolution to conventional methods. In the late venous phase, good images of the portal system were obtained using a small amount of contrast medium. Respiratory movements and artifacts were overcome with postprocessing. Most of the studies were performed using the 12-inch mode of the image intensifier, which represents the best choice between the size of the field examined and the spatial resolution of the system. We believe that DSA is a suitable substitute for conventional angiography in most patients in whom celiac trunk angiography would be used.