A Canadian study has found computerized tomography has a nearly 100 percent detection rate for acute ruptured cerebral aneurysms.
The study, conducted at the Health Sciences Center in Winnipeg, involved 171 patients with acute subarachnoid hemorrhage who underwent preoperative 3-D computerized tomography angiography, or CTA. Researchers found CTA correctly detected the ruptured aneurysm in 170 cases when compared with intraoperative findings, said Dr. Bijal Patel, lead author of the study.
Of the 22 cases in which there was more than one aneurysm, CTA correctly identified the ones that were ruptured every time.
"In the one case where CTA initially did not demonstrate the ruptured aneurysm, the study was severely degraded with motion artifact," said Patel.
"Although we were expecting CTA to demonstrate a high detection rate for acute ruptured aneurysms, we were not expecting the accuracy to be as high as it was," he added.
The full results of the study were being presented this week by an electronic exhibit in Orlando, Fla., during the annual meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
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