Three-Dimensional Printing for Cardiology: To Be, or Not To Be?

Three-Dimensional Printing for Cardiology: A Useful Tool for Cardiac Intervention

“…We read with interest the letter from Luo [1] concerning our previous paper [2]. Here we offer our response, and hope that our experience will be helpful.…”

“…These imaging methods may involve intravenous contrast, sedation, and ionizing radiation [5]. As mentioned by Luo [1], if we required patients to have CT scans for the sole purpose of 3D printing, it would certainly increase their radiation exposure. This is why so many researchers use echocardiographic data to fabricate 3D printing models.…”

“…The second concern expressed by Luo [1] regards 3D printing potentially prolonging a patient's hospital stay due to the long printing time. According to our practice, patients indicated for left atrial appendage closure are recommended to receive outpatient service prior to their operation.…”

“…The third concern expressed by Luo [1] relates to the accuracy of a 3D printing model. Firstly, many studies have demonstrated that the fabrication of a 3D cardiovascular model attains a high accuracy.…”