Application value of dual-energy CT virtual non-contrast scan technique in the evaluation of adrenal tumors
LIU Dan, LIN Guihan, CHEN Chunmiao, HU Xianghua, GAO Yang, JI Jiansong.
Departmentof Radiology, Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research, the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui 323000, China
LIU Dan,LIN Guihan,CHEN Chunmiao, et al. Application value of dual-energy CT virtual non-contrast scan technique in the evaluation of adrenal tumors[J]. JOURNAL OF WEZHOU MEDICAL UNIVERSITY, 2022, 52(10): 813-817.
Abstract：Objective: To explore the application of dual-energy CT virtual non-contrast (VNC) technology in the diagnosis of adrenal tumors. Methods: Fifty-six patients with adrenal tumors confirmed by postoperative histopathology in the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from January 2020 to September 2021 were retrospectively collected. All patients underwent true non-contrast (TNC) and dual-energy CT enhanced three-phase (arterial, venous, and delayed) scans before surgery, and then obtained VNC images of different phases by post-processing software (VNCA, VNCV, and VNCD). The image quality of TNC and VNC was evaluated both subjectively (displaying the number of tumor morphological features and image quality score) and bjectively (measurement of CT value, noise, SNR, and CNR of the lesion), with the radiation was recorded. The one-way analysis of variance method was used to compare the differences in the objective evaluation of TNC and VNC at different phases. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the differences in the subjective evaluation between TNC and VNC at different phases. The independent sample t-test was used to compare the difference in radiation dose values between VNC mode and conventional mode. Results: There were no significant differences in tumor morphological features and image quality scores between TNC and VNC at different stages (all P>0.05). The CT values of lesions and normal adrenal parenchyma on TNC images were significantly lower than those onVNCV and VNCD images (all P<0.05), but showed no statistical difference compared with VNCA images (P=0.091, \0.085). Compared with TNC, the SNR and CNR of VNCA, VNCV, and VNCD images were significantly higher (all P<0.05). The lesion noise of VNCA, VNCV, and VNCD images was significantly lower than that of TNC (all P<0.05). In addition, there was no statistical significance in CT value, SD value, SNR, and CNR of lesions in the three groups of VNC images (all P>0.05). In terms of radiation dose value, the effective radiation dose (ED) of the VNC mode was reduced by 23.2% compared with the conventional mode. Conclusion: The VNC images obtained by applying dual-energy CT arterial phase scan data can significantly reduce the radiation dose received by patients with adrenal tumors, which meets the diagnostic requirement.
