A prospective study to evaluate the depictability of the hepatic veins on abdominal contrast-enhanced CT in small children

Abstract

The optimal conditions for abdominal contrast-enhanced (CE) CT, especially with respect to depiction of the hepatic veins (HVs), have not been well studied in small children. We compared the depiction of the HVs in small children using scan delay times of 50 s and 60 s and a power injector. The degree of contrast enhancement of the HVs according to body weight was also evaluated. A total of 50 CT studies in 31 children ages 2 days to 3 years 4 months (median 12 months) with a body weight less than 15 kg were prospectively evaluated. Nonionic contrast medium (300 mgI/ml) at a dose of 2 ml/kg and an injection rate calculated as (body weight in kilograms x 0.1) ml/s was injected through a 24-gauge intravenous catheter. Scan delay time was randomly chosen at 50 s or 60 s (25 times each). Subjective assessment of HV depiction was performed and the difference in CT number between the HV and hepatic parenchyma (HV-HP value) was calculated. In all cases, subjective assessment of HV depiction was good and the HV-HP value was greater than 20 HU. The mean+/-SD HV-HP value was 47.7+/-13.2 HU. There were no differences in the mean HV-HP values between scan delay times of 50 s and 60 s (P=0.58). For small children, this protocol for pediatric abdominal CECT resulted in good depiction of the HVs with no difference between scan delay times of 50 s and 60 s.