Ammar Mallouhi
Vienna Medical University, Austria
Title: Color-coded volume-rendered unenhanced cerebral CT in acute stroke
Biography
Biography: Ammar Mallouhi
Abstract
It has been shown that using variable window width and center level settings facilitates the detection of ischemic brain parenchyma in unenhanced cerebral CT (CCT) by accentuating the contrast between normal and edematous tissue. The aim of this study was to apply color-coded volume rendering to CCT datasets and assess the clinical value of the resulting volume-rendered CCT images in the detection of early infarction signs. Ethics committee at our institute approved this study. The calculated sample size was 80 patients. Unenhanced CCT datasets of 80 consecutive patients with clinical suspicion of acute stroke were retrospectively evaluated. Utilizing commercially available software, CCT images were reconstructed and a specific color was assigned to each voxel corresponding to its HU value. Two resident doctors, after completion of their neuroradiological training, evaluated source and volume-rendered CCT images. The reference standard was MRI with DWI that proved or ruled out an acute infarction. The diagnostic confidence in the presence of acute brain ischemia was scored by using a 5-point ordinal scale (1, definitely present and 5, definitely absent) and assessed with ROC analysis. Particularly for radiologists in training, color-coded volume-rendered CCT images may facilitate the visualization of ischemic brain parenchyma and augment its diagnostic confidence in the detection of acute stroke.