Evaluation of Intraindividual Contrast Enhancement Variability for Determining the Maximum Achievable Consistency in...

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Diagnostic Imaging

Background:

• Temporal variability in vascular and parenchymal enhancement can impact diagnostic accuracy.
• Understanding factors contributing to enhancement variability is crucial for consistent imaging interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify temporal variability in vascular and parenchymal enhancement within patients.
• To identify technique-related factors associated with this enhancement variability.

Main Methods:

• 100 patients underwent four CT scans with identical acquisition and contrast parameters.
• Enhancement was measured in the abdominal aorta, portal vein, liver parenchyma, and subcutaneous fat.
• Demographic, body habitus, and injection-related factors (e.g., delay time) were recorded.

Main Results:

• Clinically relevant enhancement variability was observed in 33-38% of patients.
• Increased delay time variability was associated with abdominal aorta enhancement variability (p=0.009).
• Female sex was associated with liver parenchyma (p=0.008) and abdominal aorta (p=0.039) enhancement variability.

Conclusions:

• Approximately one-third of patients exhibit clinically relevant enhancement variability despite identical scan parameters.
• Delay time is the only controllable factor linked to abdominal aorta enhancement variability.
• No controllable factors were significantly associated with portal vein or liver parenchyma enhancement variability.