Diagnostic Accuracy of Multi-Slice Computed Tomographic (MSCT) Angiography in the Detection of Cerebral Aneurysms

Background/Objective: Multislice computed tomographic (MSCT) angiography is a rapid and minimally invasive method for the detection of intracranial aneurysms. The purpose of this study was to compare MSCT angiography with digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in the diagnosis of cerebral aneurysms. Patients and Methods: In this cross sectional study we evaluated 111 consecutive patients [42(37.8%) male and 69(62.2%) female], who were admitted under clinical symptoms and signs, suggestive of harboring an intracranial aneurysm by using a four detector MSCT angiography. Then we compared results of MSCT angiography with DSA results as a gold standard method. DSA was performed by bilateral selective common carotid artery injections and either unilateral or bilateral vertebral artery injections, as necessary. MSCT angiography images were interpreted by one radiologist and DSA was performed by another radiologist who was blinded to the interpretation of the MSCT angiograms. Results: The mean±SD age of the patients was 49.1±13.6 years (range: 12-84 years). We performed MSCT in 111 and DSA in 85 patients. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), positive and negative likelihood ratio (LR) of MSCT angiography, when compared with DSA as the gold standard, were 100%, 90%, 87.5%, 100%, 10 and 0, respectively. Conclusion: MSCT angiography seems to be an accurate and non-invasive imaging modality in the diagnosis of intracranial aneurysms.