Accurate Cerebral Aneurysm Diagnosis by CT Angiography

HealthDay News - Computed tomographic (CT) angiography, especially by modern multidetector CT, is a highly accurate tool for diagnosing cerebral aneurysms, according to a meta-analysis published online March 9 in the Annals of Neurology.

Jan Menke, MD, from the University Hospital in Goettingen, Germany, and colleagues examined data from 45 studies, including 3,643 patients with cerebral aneurysms, to evaluate noninvasive CT angiography in diagnosing intracranial aneurysms. The accuracy of CT angiography was compared with digital subtraction angiography and/or intraoperative findings in patients suspected of having cerebral aneurysms.

The investigators found that 77 percent of patients had cerebral aneurysms and 86 percent had nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage. On a per-patient basis, the pooled sensitivity of CT angiography for detecting cerebral aneurysms was 97.2 percent, and specificity for ruling out cerebral aneurysms was 97.9 percent. On a per-aneurysm basis, the sensitivity and specificity were 95.0 and 96.2 percent, respectively. CT angiography with multidetector CT (16- or 64-row) had a significantly higher diagnostic accuracy than that of single-detector CT, especially in case of small aneurysms (diameter of 4 mm or less).

"CT angiography has a high accuracy in diagnosing cerebral aneurysms, specifically when using modern multidetector CT," the authors write.

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