فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background: The presence of blood in the subarachnoid space is an acute pathology with a serious risk of death and complications. The most common etiology (approximately 80%) is intracranial aneurysm. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the role of bone subtracted computed tomographic angiography (BSCTA), a novel and noninvasive method for determining and characterizing intracranial aneurysms. Results: Of the 50 patients who participated in this study, 11 had no aneurysms as determined by both CTA and DSA. Examination of the remaining 39 patients revealed the presence of 51 aneurysms. While 3D-CTA could not detect six aneurysms that were located in the base of the skull, 3D-BSCTA easily detected them. Moreover, five aneurysms were only partially detected by 3D-CTA. According to this data, the sensitivity of 3D-BSCTA and 3D-CTA was calculated as 98% and 88.2%, respectively; the specificity was calculated as 100% and 91.6%, respectively, per aneurysm; and the sensitivity of 100% for 3D-BSCTA and 98% for 3D-CTA was achieved by using combined images with multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) and maximum intensity projection (MIP). BSCTA detected and characterized the aneurysms as well as DSA, and BSCTA and DSA gave concordant results in detecting aneurysms. Conclusions: BSCTA is easily accessible, less time consuming, and most importantly, a non-invasive technique for detecting intracranial aneurysms. It is also suitable for patients who have been referred to emergency services. Therefore, it can be used in emergency conditions and as a first-line diagnostic method in patients with non-traumatic SAH.