Visualization of Lenticulostriate Arteries on CT Angiography Using Ultra-High-Resolution CT Compared with Conventional-Detector CT

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The newly developed ultra-high-resolution CT is equipped with a 0.25-mm detector, which has one-half the conventional section thickness, one-half the in-plane detector element width, and one-half the reconstructed pixel width compared with conventional-detector CT. Thus, the ultra-high-resolution CT scanner should provide better image quality for microvasculature than the conventional-detector CT scanners. This study aimed to determine whether ultra-high-resolution CT produces superior-quality images of the lenticulostriate arteries compared with conventional-detector CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From February 2017 to June 2017, thirteen patients with aneurysms (4 men, 9 women; mean age, 61.2 years) who underwent head CTA with both ultra-high-resolution CT and conventional-detector CT were enrolled. Two boardcertified radiologists determined the number of all lenticulostriate arteries on the CTA coronal images of the MCA M1 segment reconstructed from 512 matrixes on conventional-detector CT and 1024 matrixes on ultra-high-resolution CT. RESULTS: There were statistically more lenticulostriate arteries identified on ultra-high-resolution CT (average, 2.85 6 0.83; 95% CI, 2.509-3.183) than on conventional-detector CT (average, 2.17 6 0.76; 95% CI, 1.866-2.480) (P 4 .009) in 16 of the total 26 MCA M1 segments. CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in lenticulostriate artery visualization were the result of the combined package of the ultra-high-resolution CT scanner plus the ultra-high-resolution scanning protocol, which includes higher radiation doses with lower than the national diagnostic reference levels and stronger adaptive iterative dose-reduction processing. This package for ultra-high-resolution CT is a simple, noninvasive, and easily accessible method to evaluate microvasculature such as the lenticulostriate arteries.

Comparison between ultra-high-resolution computed tomographic angiography and conventional computed tomographic angiography in the visualization of the subcallosal artery

“…Since cadaver head dissections found the ScAs in 80% of the specimens,[ 7 , 15 ] we interpreted that the image quality of the C-CTA was not high enough to visualize a small but important artery, the ScA. [ 13 ] However, the emergence of the UHR-CTA scanner has changed the situations. [ 13 , 14 ] The UHR-CTA scanner is equipped with a 0.25-mm detector that enables the scanning of images with half thickness and provides images at a higher resolution.…”

“…[ 13 ] However, the emergence of the UHR-CTA scanner has changed the situations. [ 13 , 14 ] The UHR-CTA scanner is equipped with a 0.25-mm detector that enables the scanning of images with half thickness and provides images at a higher resolution. A recent report demonstrated that UHR-CTA and C-CTA detected 2.85 and 2.17 lenticulostriate arteries, respectively.…”

“…A recent report demonstrated that UHR-CTA and C-CTA detected 2.85 and 2.17 lenticulostriate arteries, respectively. [ 13 ] Since there was a significant difference, the UHR-CTA was found to be superior to the C-CTA in visualizing perforating arteries from the middle cerebral arteries. [ 13 ] The current study proved that the UHR-CTA could detect perforating arteries from the ACoA better than C-CTA could.…”

“…[ 13 ] Since there was a significant difference, the UHR-CTA was found to be superior to the C-CTA in visualizing perforating arteries from the middle cerebral arteries. [ 13 ] The current study proved that the UHR-CTA could detect perforating arteries from the ACoA better than C-CTA could. This adds further evidence to UHR-CTA being a useful tool in clinical situations.…”

“…Several reports indicated that UHR-CT could obtain a high image quality of the intracranial artery. [ 13 , 14 ] In this paper, we investigated whether UHR-CTA could image the ScA and the MdCA better than C-CTA could.…”