[Multi-slice CT angiography in the diagnosis and characterization of cerebral aneurysms]

To assess the diagnostic accuracy of multislice computed tomography angiography in the detection and characterization of cerebral aneurysms.

Multislice CT angiography and DSA were performed in 41 patients suspected to have intracranial aneurysms. A volume rendering method was used to produce three-dimensional CT angiograms. The diameter, location, neck and branching pattern of aneurysms were evaluated with CT angiography and DSA and compared with each other.

Of 41 patients, DSA depicted 44 aneurysms in 33 patients. Multislice CT angiography depicted 44 aneurysms in 34 patients. One aneurysm demonstrated with DSA was not detected at multislice CT angiography. One aneurysm demonstrated with multislice CT angiography and confirmed at surgery was not demonstrated with DSA. There was no false positive aneurysm in multislice CT angiography. There were 4 aneurysms smaller than 3 mm and multislice CT angiography demonstrated all these aneurysms. In 9 aneurysms, the neck and branching pattern could only be shown with multislice CT angiography. Sensitivity and specificity of multislice CT angiography were 97.7% and 87.5%, respectively.

Multislice CT angiography has a high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of intracranial aneurysms and is superior to DSA in the delineation of the aneurysm neck and branching pattern. Multislice technology with submillimeter collimation improves the detection of small aneurysms and the delineation of the neck of the aneurysms.