Assessment of calcified carotid plaque volume: comparison of contrast-enhanced dual-energy CT angiography and native single-energy CT.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to compare estimates of calcified plaque volume in the carotid arteries based on contrast-enhanced dual-energy CT angiograms with volume estimates based on native CT scans. CONCLUSION. Detection of hard plaque in the carotid arteries with dual-energy CT angiography was successful in all patients. Estimates of calcified plaque volume based on dual-energy CT angiograms correlated well with those based on native single-energy CT scans but at a lower attenuation threshold (130 HU as opposed to 180 HU) were underestimates compared with those on the native CT scans.