Perfusion CT in acute stroke: effectiveness of automatically-generated colour maps
Maja Ukmar1, Ferruccio Degrassi1, Roberta Antea Pozzi Mucelli1
1UCO di Radiologia Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Chirurgiche e Tecnologiche, Università degli Studi di Trieste Ospedale di Cattinare (ASUITS), Trieste, Italy.
The British Journal of Radiology
|March 23, 2017
Summary
Perfusion CT (pCT) accurately identifies acute ischemic stroke lesions, with qualitative analysis showing better lesion detection than software-generated maps. Software maps are useful for emergency settings.
Area of Science:
- Neuroradiology
- Medical Imaging
- Stroke Imaging
Background:
- Acute ischemic stroke requires rapid diagnosis to guide treatment.
- CT perfusion (pCT) is increasingly used to assess brain tissue viability.
- Parametric maps (CBV, CBF, MTT) and software-generated color maps aid in interpreting pCT data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the accuracy of pCT in defining the infarct core and penumbra.
- To compare qualitative analysis of parametric maps with software-generated color maps.
- To assess pCT's utility in identifying acute ischemic lesions.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of patients with suspected acute ischemic stroke.
- pCT performed within 4.5 hours of symptom onset.
- Qualitative evaluation of CBV, CBF, and MTT maps compared to automatically generated color maps.
Main Results:
- 19 patients with CT follow-up were analyzed.
- Qualitative analysis identified 29 perfusion deficits (15 penumbra, 14 infarct).
- Software maps identified 25 deficits (15 penumbra, 10 infarct); no significant difference between methods.
Conclusions:
- pCT demonstrates good accuracy in identifying acute ischemic lesions.
- Qualitative analysis is more efficient than software maps for lesion identification.
- Software-generated maps are valuable in emergency settings for less experienced physicians.
