Junhyung Lee, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Sungjun Kim, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Min Hee Lee MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Jeong Ah Ryu MD, PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Choon Sik Yoon, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Yaena Kim MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Jihe Lim, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Young Han Lee MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Jin-Suck Suh MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of spine-targeted CT (TLS-CT) is necessary for the patient who underwent visceral organ targeted CT (AP-CT).

A total of 420 vertebrae in 72 consecutive patients that underwent AP-CT to assess blunt traumatic injury and an additional CT examination using a TLS-CT protocol to evaluate spinal fractures were retrospectively evaluated. The AP-CT set (set A, reconstructed with using a wide display field of view [DFOV] and a soft algorithm) and the TLS-CT set (set S, reconstructed using a narrow DFOV and a hard algorithm) were composed of axial plus reformatted sagittal and/or coronal images. Three radiologists independently reviewed all CT data retrospectively. Performances for detecting and typing fractures were compared by using areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) and by determining concordance rates.

The overall AUCs for sets S and A for fracture detection were 0.996 and 0.995 respectively; no significant difference was found between the two sets in performance of fracture detection. Concordance rates for typing performance also showed no statistical significance between the two sets for any of the three observers.

Sixteen-detector row CT images reconstructed using a soft algorithm and a wide display FOV that cover the entire abdomen using a visceral organ targeted protocol with 1.5 mm collimation are sufficient for the evaluation of spine fractures in trauma patients given that multiplanar-reformatted images are provided. Spine-targeted CT acquisition is not needed.

The elimination of an additional spine-targeted CT protocol would substantially reduce time, the storage burden, and potential patient radiation exposure.

Lee, J, Kim, S, Lee, M, Ryu, J, Yoon, C, Kim, Y, Lim, J, Lee, Y, Suh, J, A Comparison of the Diagnostic Performances of Visceral Organ versus Spine-targeted Protocols for the Evaluation of Spinal Fracture: Is Additional Spine-targeted CT Necessary to Evaluate Thoracolumbar Spinal Fractures in Blunt Trauma Victims?.  Radiological Society of North America 2010 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 28 - December 3, 2010 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2010/9005526.html