Abstract
Background and purposeStandard (static) CT angiography is used to identify the intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) spot sign. We used dynamic CT-angiography to describe spot sign characteristics and measurement parameters over 60-seconds of image acquisition.MethodsWe prospectively identified consecutive patients presenting with acute ICH within 4.5 hours of symptom onset, and collected whole brain dynamic CT-angiography (dCTA). Spot parameters (earliest appearance, duration, maximum Hounsfield unit (HU), time to maximum HU, time to spot diagnostic definition, spot volume and hematoma volumes) were measured using volumetric analysis software.ResultWe enrolled 34 patients: three were excluded due to secondary causes of ICH. Of the remaining 31 patients there were 18 females (58%) with median age 70 (range 47–86) and baseline hematoma volume 33 ml (range 0.7–103 ml). Positive dCTA spot sign was present in 13 patients (42%) visualized as an expanding 3-dimensional structure temporally evolving its morphology over the scan period. Median time to spot appearance was 21 s (range 15–35 seconds). This method allowed tracking of spots evolution until the end of venous phase (active extravasation) with median duration of 39 s (range 25–45 seconds). The average density and time to maximum density was 204HU and 30.8 s (range 23–31 s) respectively. Median time to spot diagnosis was 20.8 s using either 100 or 120HU definitions.ConclusionDynamic CTA allows a 3-dimensional assessment of spot sign formation during acute ICH, and captured higher spot sign prevalence than previously reported. This is the first study to describe and quantify spot sign characteristics using dCTA; these can be used in ongoing and upcoming ICH studies.
Highlights
Computed Tomographic angiography (CTA) is non-invasive test that visualizes the transit of radio-opaque contrast through the vasculature, and is commonly used in acute cerebrovascular disease to identify sites of vessel occlusion or rupture
Between December 2008 and June 2013, 34 consecutive patients presented with acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) were recruited who underwent dynamic CT-angiography (dCTA) as part of a code stroke protocol
One patient presented twice with different hemorrhages with a spot sign manifesting on the second occurrence
Summary
Computed Tomographic angiography (CTA) is non-invasive test that visualizes the transit of radio-opaque contrast through the vasculature, and is commonly used in acute cerebrovascular disease to identify sites of vessel occlusion or rupture. The majority of patients with ICH will experience hematoma expansion, the spot sign is only present in about a third [2,3,4,5,6] This may be related to the use of routine ‘‘static’’ early phase CTA [3,7] which necessitates pre-selection of image acquisition time at a set time-point following contrast injection; presently, the optimal standard CTA timing for spot visualization is unknown. Several techniques have been proposed to detect late phase spot signs such as post-contrast CT, CT-perfusion and dynamic CTA imaging [7,8,9,10,11,12]. We used dynamic CT-angiography to describe spot sign characteristics and measurement parameters over 60-seconds of image acquisition
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