Clinical applications of virtual, non-contrast head images derived from dual-source, dual-energy cerebrovascular computed tomography angiography

Background : This study set out to evaluate the ulity of cerebrovascular virtual non-contrast (VNC) scans. Materials and Methods : Convenonal non-contrast (CNC) and dual-energy computed tomography angiography (DE-CTA) head scans were conducted on 100 subjects, of which 46 were normal, 15 had parenchymal hematomas of the brain, 13 had ischemic infarcon, 22 had tumors, and 4 had calcified lesions. VNC images were extracted from the DE-CTA head scans by post-processing. The true (or convenonal) and VNC images were compared in terms of the mean CT a.enuaon value and signal-to-noise rao (SNR) of t he cerebral parenchyma, the image quality, the lesion detecon sensivity, and the radiaon exposure level. Results : The image qualies of the CNC and VNC scans were (4.95 ± 0.22) points and (3.94 ± 0.24) points (t = 31.18, P < 0.05), the mean CT values for the CNC and VNC images were (34.6 ± 2.44) and (28.6 ± 5.40) HU (t = 10.126, P < 0.05), the SNRs were (9.45 ± 1.26) and (6.87 ± 1.77), and the HU for white ma.er was (t = 11.859, P<0.05), respecve ly. The effecve radiaon doses from the DE-CTA head scans and the convenonal non-contrast scans were (8.55 ± 0.57) mSv and (9.41 ± 1.00) mSv, respecvely. No significant difference in the lesion detecon sensivies was ob served between the CNC and VNC scans, except forny calcified lesions, which could not be idenfied by a VNC scan. Conclusion: VNC and contrast-enhanced images could be obtained from DE-CTA head scans and could aid in the diagnosis of cerebral lesions. The radiaon dose from the VNC scan was less than that from the CNC scan.