Usefulness of CT Angiography in Patients with Intracranial Occlusive Vascular Disease of the Circle of Willis: Comparison with Conventional Angiography

Kim, Byoung Jin; Kim, Yun Hyeon; Seo, Jeong Jin; Chong, Jin Yong; Kim, Jae Kyu; Park, Jin Gyoon; Kang, Heoung Keun

Abstract

PURPOSE
To assess the usefulness of CT angiography(CTA) compared with compared with conventional angiography(CA) in the evaluation of intracranial occlusive vascular disease.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We evaluated 26 patients with clinically suspected intracranial occlusive vascular disease studied with both CTA and CA. Incases where there was no vascular lesion on CA, we used CTA to retrospectively review the detection rate and size of individual vessels, and compared the findings with those obtained by CA. In cases of occlusive vascular lesion, we evaluated the degree of stenosis on CTA and compared this with the CA findings. We also measured the time taken to use both modalities.
RESULTS
Sixteen patients had no vascular lesion and ten patients had occlusive vascularlesions. Compared with CA, CTA detected 97%(124/128) of normal intracranial arteies ; their diameter measured on CTA was slightly smaller than that on CA. On CTA, the degree of stenosis was correctly estimated in eight lesions, underestimated in one and overestimated in one. Examination time ranged between 15 and 20 minutes with CTA and between 40 and 60 minutes with CA.
CONCLUSION
Compared with CA, CTA shows good correlation in the delineation of intracranial normal and occlusive vessels around the Circle of Willis. CTA may be an additional tool for the evaluation of the Circle of Willis in patients with suspected intracranial occlusive vascular disease. CTA may, additionally, be used as a follow-up method in patients with acute cerebral infarctions after thrombolytic therapy.