State of the art 3D imaging of abdominal organs.

Since its introduction in the late 70's 3D imaging has assumed growing importance for the visualization of abdominal pathologies. Main clinical applications include the preoperative planning for resection of liver, pancreas and kidney tumors, living-donor liver and renal transplantation, and tumor radiofrequency ablation of liver and kidney. The advantages of 3D imaging are the exact visualization of vessels in areas with complex and variable vascular anatomy, demonstration of possible resection margins, and predicting operative risks, especially when dealing with complex or minimal invasive surgery. 3D imaging is an important visual aid for the surgeon in order to facilitate crucial decisions and to lower the operative risk. In future, 3D planning and simulation of operations will be become standard procedures. Therefore an efficient use of 3D imaging is not possible without a close collaboration between radiologist and surgeons.