BACKGROUNDConventional computed tomography angiography (CTA) is time consuming, user-dependent and has poor image quality in skull base region. This study assessed the feasibility of a new method, dual energy CTA for depicting the cerebral artery.

METHODSPhantom scan was done with head CTA sequences on dual source CT and 64 spiral CT for radiation dose calculation. Dual energy CTA was done with dual source CT on 36 patients who were suspected of having cerebral vascular disease. Three series axial images in 0.75 mm thick, 0.4 mm increment were acquired, which were named with 80 kV, 140 kV and merged images; 80 kV and 140 kV images were transferred into dual energy software, and maximum intensity projection (MIP) image was generated quickly by dual energy bone remove (DEBR group); merged images were transferred into In Space software to acquire MIP image through manual conventional bone remove (CoBR group). Post processing time and reading time were compared. Image qualities of the two groups were compared, mainly focusing on skull base segments of internal carotid artery and bone subtraction. ANOVA and SNK tests were applied for radiation dose comparison. Student's t test and Wilcoxon rank sum test were applied for assessing differences between data for significance. Cohen's kappa was used for interobserver agreement.

RESULTSRadiation dose of phantom scan showed dual energy CTA was between digital bone subtraction and conventional CTA. The post processing time and reading time were much shorter in DEBR than CoBR, and image quality in skull base was much higher in DEBR than CoBR (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference for suprasellar vessels between two groups (P > 0.5). Interobserver agreement for all vessel segments was excellent (kappa = 0.97).

CONCLUSIONSDual energy CTA is a reliable, new modality for depicting cerebral artery, overcoming the limitation of conventional CTA in the skull base region. It can save much time in post processing and reading than conventional CTA.