RESUMO
PURPOSE: Clinical implementation of subtraction computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is limited due to motion artifact and/or long processing time. We evaluated the utility of a motion-corrected subtraction CTA technique for visualization of intra- and extra-cranial vascular lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pre- and post-contrast CT images were obtained in the target region of 53 consecutive patients which were consisted of 36 patients with 53 lesions and 17 normal patients. The source images were transferred to a personal computer (PC) and were automatically post-processed within one minute using novel motion-corrected subtraction CTA. The image quality of subtraction and non-subtraction CTAs was compared in each lesion category and lesion location using 3-point scale and Chi square test. RESULTS: The image quality of subtraction CTA was better than those from non-subtraction CTA (p<0.05) especially in the skull base lesions, such as carotid-cavernous fistulas, aneurysms in the cavernous internal carotid artery (ICA), and steno-occlusive lesions of the distal ICA, and extracranial lesions such as facial arteriovenous fistulas. CONCLUSION: The PC-based motion-corrected subtraction CTA technique allows fast generation of postprocessed images and can provide improved visualization of vascular anatomy and pathologies adjacent to bone in the skull base and head and neck areas.