To assess the diagnostic value of multislice spiral CT angiography in the investigation of intracranial aneurysms

Objective:The goal of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of multislice spiral computered tomography angiography(CTA) in the investigation of intracranial aneurysms. Methods:36 cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients, suspected having intracranial aneurysms, who successively underwent CTA and DSA, were prospectively identified,by comparing CTA with DSA. VRT, MIP and SSD were adopted as post-processing techniques of CT angiography,CTA studies consisted of 0.75 mm slices, with 0.7 mm reconstruction intervals, and the timing determined by a test bolus. Two radiologists blindly reviewed CTA and DSA for the detection and characterization of intracranial aneurysms.Results:37 intracranial aneurysms were identified in 32 patients,including 15 anterior communicating aneurysms; 2 anterior cerebral aneurysms; 9 posterior communicating aneurysms; 4 internal carotid aneurysms; 5 middle cerebral aneurysms, and 2 basic aneurysms. One of aneurysmsn betided internal carotid artery (3 mm in diameter) was negative by DSA, the remaining were confirmed by DSA. 4 cases of SAH patients were negative in CTA and DSA. CTA displayed great accuracy in characterizing the morphological characteristics of aneurysms. The sensitivity of CTA in the detection of intracranial aneurysms was 94.5%. CTA and DSA had a similar accuracy in the detection of intracranial aneurysms (≥3mm in diameter). VRT was the best of the three image reconstruction techniques. Conclusion:CTA is safety and noninvasive scanning technique. It is capable of displaying the morphological characteristics of aneurysms. CTA shoud be the first choice for the detection of intracranial aneurysms.