The Value of Cerebral CT Angiography with Low Tube Voltage in Detection of Intracranial Aneurysms

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the value of cerebral CT angiography (CTA) with low tube voltage in detection of intracranial aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 294 consecutive patients with spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) were enrolled in this study and randomly assigned into conventional voltage CTA (C-CTA) group and low voltage CTA (L-CTA) group. The objective and subjective image qualities were analyzed and compared between C-CTA and L-CTA groups. With the results of 3D-DSA as "gold standard," the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of C-CTA and L-CTA in diagnosis of aneurysms were calculated and compared with each other. RESULTS: Compared with group C-CTA, the CT dose index volume (CTDIvol) of group L-CTA reduced by 35.65%. There were no significant differences between C-CTA and L-CTA groups regarding objective and subjective image qualities. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of L-CTA in diagnosis of aneurysms were 95.16%, 99.72%, and 99.42%, respectively. There were no significant differences in sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy between the C-CTA and L-CTA groups. CONCLUSION: The value of cerebral CTA with 100 kV low tube voltage in detection of intracranial aneurysms is significant, and it should be recommended as a routine scan method.