Very-high-flow injection rate for upper abdominal CT angiography.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to compare a very-high-flow injection-rate method (group A) and a conventional injection-rate method (group B) for visualization of upper abdominal arteries by multidetector helical computed tomography (MDHCT).


METHODS
The subjects were 240 patients suspected to have abdominal lesions. They were randomly assigned to group A (120 patients) and group B (120 patients). In group A, the bilateral medial cubital veins were punctured, and contrast medium was infused at a rate of 8.6-9.6 ml/s. In group B, the unilateral medial cubital vein was punctured, and contrast medium was infused at a rate of 2.0-3.0 ml/s. The quality of vascular visualization was graded as poor, good, or excellent by three radiologists.


RESULTS
All visualizations of the celiac trunk (CE) and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) were graded as excellent in both group A and group B. Visualization grades of the subsegmental branches of the hepatic artery (HA), right gastric artery (RGA), cystic artery, dorsal pancreatic artery (DPA), and superior pancreaticoduodenal artery (SPDA) were good or excellent, in 75% (paging method)/53.3% (three-dimensional method), 85%/30%, 77.7%/18.3%, 76.7%/28.3%, and 88.3%/42.5%, respectively, in group A, and 33.3%/11.7%, 46.7%/3.4%, 41.6%/5%, 55%/4.2%, and 72.5%/14.2%, respectively, in group B. The appearance rate of intrahepatic portal branches was 28.3% in group A and 66.7% in group B in the arterial dominant phase.


CONCLUSIONS
Group A showed better visualization results than Group B in upper abdominal arteries according to MDHCT.
Department of Radiology, Wakayama Medical College, Japan.
Masashi
M
Kimura
Yasukazu
Y
Shioyama
Toshiyuki
T
Okumura
Kouji
K
Yamada
Michihisa
M
Kawashima
Hiroki
H
Minamiguti
Takami
T
Hagihira
Kazushi
K
Kishi
Morio
M
Sato
D000005:Abdomen / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007269:Injections, Intra-Arterial; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed
D003287:Contrast Media