Background: The hyperdense artery sign (HAS) in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is considered an important marker of a thrombus on computed tomography (CT). An advantage of scanning with dual-energy CT (DECT) is its ability to reconstruct CT images with various energies using the virtual monochromatic imaging (VMI) technique. The aim of this study was to investigate the optimal combination of X-ray energy and slice thickness to detect HASs on DECT.
Methods: A total of 32 patients with confirmed occlusion of the horizontal (M1) portion of the middle cerebral artery were included in this study. Modified contrast-to-noise ratio (modified CNR) analysis was used as a method for evaluating HASs in AIS. A region of interest (ROI) was set as an HAS, the M1 portion, and an approximately 2 cm diameter ROI was set as the background including the HAS and measured. CT images with X-ray energies from 40 to 190 keV, with increments of 10 keV, were reconstructed based on VMI with 1, 2, and 3 mm slice thicknesses.
Results: The top five combinations of X-ray energy and slice thickness in descending order of the mean HAS-modified CNR were as follows: Rank 1, 60 keV-1 mm; Rank 2, 70 keV-1 mm; Rank 3, 60 keV-2 mm; Rank 4, 80 keV-2 mm; Rank 5, 60 keV-3 mm.
Conclusions: Our study showed that the optimal combination to detect an HAS was 60 keV and a 1 mm slice thickness on DECT.
Keywords: acute ischemic stroke; dual-energy CT; hyperdense arterial sign; virtual monochromatic imaging.