HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Alberico, R. A. Articles by Klufas, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Alberico, R. A. Articles by Klufas, R. Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

Thick-Section Reformatting of Thinly Collimated Helical CT for Reduction of Skull Base-Related Artifacts

¹ Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology/Head and Neck Imaging, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Elm St. and Carlton St., Buffalo, NY 14263.
² Department of Ultrasound, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263.
³ Department of Neurosurgery, State University of New York at Buffalo, Millard Fillmore Hospital, Gates Cir., Buffalo, NY 14263.
⁴ Department of Cancer Prevention, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263.
⁵ Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Boston Deaconess-Beth Israel Medical Center, 330 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02115.
⁶ Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St., Boston, MA 02115.

OBJECTIVE. Our purpose was to evaluate thick-section reformatted helical CT of the brain base as a technique for reducing skull base—related artifacts and to compare it with conventional CT.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. Twenty-three patients with suspected intracranial abnormalities related to the brain base, as determined either by clinical examination or at the time of imaging, were evaluated with contrast-enhanced conventional CT of the brain (5-mm collimation, 140 kVp, 170 mA, 2-sec rotation time) and reformatted helical CT (1-mm collimation, 1.5 pitch, 120 kVp, 220 mA). Helical sections were reformatted to a thickness of 5 mm by a volume-averaging algorithm using a computer workstation. Three observers retrospectively and blindly reviewed the images and qualitatively scored artifacts at the foramen magnum, middle cranial fossa, anterior cranial fossa, interpetrous region, and internal occipital protuberance. Image graininess and observer confidence were also scored. Paired statistical analyses using score differences in each patient were possible.

RESULTS. Reformatted helical CT reduced skull base—related artifacts across all five anatomic regions (p < 0.05). The foramen magnum showed the greatest reduction in artifacts and the anterior cranial fossa the least. Image graininess was increased on reformatted CT compared with conventional CT (p < 0.05), but observer confidence remained higher for reformatted CT (p < 0.05). Total additional scan time was 3.15 ± 0.38 min with 5.3 ± 1.2 min required for reformatting.

CONCLUSION. Reformatted CT significantly decreases skull base—related artifacts in the brain, improving confidence in evaluation of the brain base and adding an average of only 8.45 ± 1.6 min of scanning and processing time to each examination.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K Imai, M Ikeda, S Wada, Y Enchi, and T Niimi Analysis of streak artefacts on CT images using statistics of extremes Br. J. Radiol., November 1, 2007; 80(959): 911 - 918. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. van Straten, H.W. Venema, C.B.L.M. Majoie, N.J.M. Freling, C.A. Grimbergen, and G.J. den Heeten Image Quality of Multisection CT of the Brain: Thickly Collimated Sequential Scanning versus Thinly Collimated Spiral Scanning with Image Combining AJNR Am. J. Neuroradiol., March 1, 2007; 28(3): 421 - 427. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]