Abstract 60: Multiphase versus Single Phase CT Angiography for Detection of Distal Intracranial Occlusion

Introduction: Detecting distal intracranial arterial occlusion is of increasing importance as current studies begin to evaluate the potential benefit of tPA in minor acute stroke. Multiphase CTA (mCTA) is a technique used routinely at our centre in the setting of suspected acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Hypothesis: We hypothesized that mCTA is diagnostically superior to CTA for detection of distal intracranial arterial occlusion in suspected AIS. Methods: Population comprised of patients with suspected AIS who had mCTA, followed by MR brain with DWI within 24 hours. mCTA involves 3 phases of enhanced CT from skull base to vertex following administration of a single iodinated contrast bolus. Prospective interpretation of unenhanced CT followed by single phase CTA was performed by a radiology resident, a stroke fellow, or a neuroradiologist. Unenhanced CT followed by mCTA was interpreted u003e 1 week after single phase CTA interpretation using the same dataset. MR exams were separately adjudicated to establish each case as positive or negative according to pre-specified criteria that suggests a high likelihood for the presence of an arterial occlusion on CTA (DWI lesion u003e 2mm diameter, not multiple small infarcts consistent with microembolic shower, not exclusively white matter lesion, not small deep gray matter lesion consistent with lacunar type infarct. Results and Conclusion: Of 322 patients, single phase CTA detected 69 occlusions (sensitivity 52.5%, specificity 98.1%) and mCTA detected 113 (sens = 81.8%, spec = 99.5%). mCTA detected a greater number of proximal occlusions (76 vs. 66), and a greater number of distal occlusions (37 vs. 3) than CTA. mCTA demonstrated a greater rate of detection for distal occlusions (relative rate = 9.67, 95% CI 3.76 - 24.84). CTA/MR agreement was moderate (kappa = 0.59) while mCTA/MR agreement was substantial (kappa = 0.81). Mean interpretation time for CTA was 239.8 seconds (95% CI 221.3 - 258.4) and 195.0 seconds (95% CI 176.9 - 213.1) for mCTA. In conclusion, our data suggest mCTA is superior to single phase for detection of distal intracranial occlusion.