OBJECTIVE:To invastgate feasibility of low-dose contrast agent in cerebral computed tomography angiography (CTA) to alleviate side effects. METHOD:Siemens’ Somatom Definition AS+CT scanner, Heine’s blood pressure monitor G7-M237 (BP cuff) and Ultravist contrast agent (370 mg Iodine/ml) are used. CTA is acquired using following scan parameters including slice thickness of 1mm, image acquisition parameters of 128×0.6 mm, pitch size of 0.8 mm, 175 effective mAs, 120 kVp tube voltage, scan delay time of 3 seconds, and the scan time of 4 seconds. This study is conducted by securing the IV route in the left antecubital vein before injection of contrast agent, wrapping BP cuff around the branchial artery of the opposite right arm after setting the pressure to 200 mmHg. Then, the injection rate of the contrast agent is fixed at 4.5 cc/sec and contrast agent was injected in three different amounts (70, 80, and 100 cc). Bp cuff is released from this moment when HU value reachs 100. RESULT:In this study, the mean HU values measured from common carotid artery are 412.45±5.89 when injecting 80cc contrast agent and using BP cuff and 399.64±5.51 when injecting 100 cc contrast agenet and not using BP cuff, respectively. In middle cerebral artery M1, the mean HU values are 325.23±38.29 when injecting 80cc contrast agent and using BP cuff and 325.00±30.63 when injecting 100cc contrast agent blood and not using pressure cuff, respectively. Difference of mean HU values is not statistically significant (p > 0.05) with and without using BP cuff. CONCLUSION:This study demonstrates that reducing amount of contrast agent is possible when the right brachial artery is compressed using BP cuff. Study results indicate that reducing 20% injection of contrast agent in CT cerebrovascular angiography can still yield comparable imaging results with conventional contrast angent usage, which implies that less side effects are expected with a contrast agent injection. Thus, this study can serve as a reference for potential reducing side effect during CT cerebrovascular angiography.

中文翻译：

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在计算机断层扫描脑血管造影中使用血压袖带压缩右臂动脉后减少造影剂用量

目的：探讨低剂量造影剂在脑CT血管造影（CTA）中减轻副作用的可行性。方法：使用 Siemens 的 Somatom Definition AS+CT 扫描仪、Heine 的血压计 G7-M237（BP 袖带）和 Ultravist 造影剂（370 mg Iodine/ml）。使用以下扫描参数获取 CTA，包括切片厚度 1mm、图像采集参数 128×0.6 mm、间距尺寸 0.8 mm、175 有效 mAs、120 kVp 管电压、扫描延迟时间 3 秒、扫描时间 4秒。这项研究是通过在注射造影剂之前在左肘前静脉中固定 IV 路径进行的，在将压力设置为 200 mmHg 后将 BP 袖带缠绕在对侧右臂的鳃动脉周围。然后，造影剂的注入速率固定为 4。5 cc/sec 并以三种不同的量（70、80 和 100 cc）注射造影剂。当 HU 值达到 100 时，从这一时刻开始释放 Bp 袖带。 结果：在本研究中，注射 80cc 造影剂和使用 BP 袖带时颈总动脉测量的平均 HU 值为 412.45±5.89，注射 100 cc 造影剂时为 399.64±5.51分别使用agenet 和不使用BP 袖带。在大脑中动脉M1，注射80cc造影剂和使用血压袖带时的平均HU值分别为325.23±38.29和注射100cc造影剂血液和不使用压力袖带时的325.00±30.63。使用和不使用 BP 袖带时，平均 HU 值的差异没有统计学意义 (p > 0.05)。结论：这项研究表明，当使用 BP 袖带压缩右臂动脉时，可以减少造影剂的用量。研究结果表明，在 CT 脑血管造影中减少 20% 的造影剂注射仍可产生与传统造影剂使用相当的成像结果，这意味着注射造影剂的副作用更少。因此，本研究可作为 CT 脑血管造影期间潜在减少副作用的参考。