The imaging and diagnostic value of costicartilage injuries on multislice CT / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the imaging methods of multi-slice CT(MSCT) in costicartilage and the diagnostic value in the costicartilage injuries. Methods There were 100 cases in normal group and 36 cases in group of chest injuries. All cases were performed in volume scan according to conventional chest scan by SIEMENS Sensation 4 MSCT, then performed in thin slice low and high contrast image reconstructions. After that, all the source images were input into CT 3D workstations,costicartilage were imaged by postprocessing software such as multiplanar reconstructions(MPR), maximum intensity projection(MIP), surface shade display(SSD) and volume rendering technique(VRT). All the pictures were observed and analyzed by two radiologists. Results All postprocessed images that obtained from the MSCT could show the costicartilage clearly. Normal costicartilage displayed uniform density,regular shape and smooth surface;there were 6 injuries in 10 cases with costicartilage injuries,which displayed no uniformity density or cranny in costicartilage and showed cranny in 2 cases. No significant difference of image quality was found among the three imaging modes of MIP、SSD、VRT(?2=1.356, P=0.716). [JP2]Significant differences were found between MPR and other three imaging modes(U_ MIPMPR=[JP]12.981,U_ SSDMPR=12.652, U_ VRTMPR=12.937, P=0.000). Conclusion So far, the MSCT is the best noninvasive imaging method to show the shape of costicartilage, it may be considered as a clinical “gold standard” in the diagnosis of costicartilage injury.