ORIGINAL RESEARCH C-Arm CT Measurement of Cerebral Blood Volume in Ischemic Stroke: An Experimental Study in Canines

RESULTS: An ischemic stroke was achieved in 9 of the 10 animals. Areas of reduced CBV were detected in 70%–75% of the PCT studies and in 83%–87% of the C-arm CT examinations, with false-positives in 1.7% and 3.3%, respectively. False-negatives were found in 25% of the PCT and 12.2% of the C-arm CT studies. In all studies, there was a significant difference between the absolute CBV values in normal and abnormal tissue (P .005) and no significant difference between PCT and C-arm CT CBV values in either the normal or the abnormal parenchyma (P .05). CONCLUSIONS: CBV measurements made with C-arm CT compare well with ones made with PCT. While further work is required both to fully validate the technique and to define its ultimate clinical value, it appears that it offers a feasible method for assessing CBV in the angiography suite. ABBREVIATIONS: ACA anterior cerebral artery; CBF cerebral blood flow; CBV cerebral blood volume; DWI diffusion-weighted imaging; DSA digital subtraction angiography; FN falsenegative; FP false-positive; ICA internal carotid artery; MCA middle cerebral artery; MTT mean transit time; PCT perfusion CT; TP true-positive; VA vertebral artery