title: CT angiography using electron-beam computed tomography (EBCT): a phantom study.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of CT angiography in small vessels using electron-beam computed tomography (EBCT). Vessel phantoms with inner diameters of 8 mm, 6 mm, and 4 mm were prepared with segments of 75%, 50%, and 25% stenosis in each vessel. The vessels were filled with contrast medium (Iopamidol 300 at 1/24 dilution, approximately 380 HU). The EBCT apparatus used was an Imatron C- 150. The step volume scan mode was used with slice thicknesses of 1.5 mm and 3.0 mm, scan time of 0.3 sec, and 210 mm field of view. Images with a slice thickness of 1.5 mm were definitely better than those with a slice thickness of 3.0 mm. The quality of maximum intensity projection (MIP) images was quite similar to that of three-dimensional (3D) images. Using the 8 mm vessel phantom, all stenotic segments were accurately visualized on CT angiography. The 50% stenotic segments were accurately estimated in all vessels. However, the 75% stenotic segments were slightly overestimated in smaller vessels, and the 25% stenotic segments were slightly underestimated in smaller vessels. We consider CT angiography using EBCT to be a useful, less invasive diagnostic modality for stenoocclusive lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Saga Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uchino
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kudo
mesh_terms: D015901:Angiography, Digital Subtraction / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed