COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY VERSUS DIGITAL SUBTRACTION ANGIOGRAPHY FOR INTRACRANIAL VASCULAR PATHOLOGY

Abstract

Computed tomography angiography is non-invasive and readily available technique for assessment of intracranial vascular lesions. It has broad acceptance by patients and is relatively inexpensive. However, there are some shortcomings with this modality, such as the decreased accuracy in small pathologies or calcied vessels and inability to assess dynamic cine view. DSA, on the other hand, provide excellent characterization and excellent anatomic delineation of small and large vascular pathologies. There is a signicant difference, in the inherent costs of DSA and CTA. In this article We have studied various intra cranial vascular pathologies on both CTA and DSA and compared their sensitivity and specicity for diagnosis. The comparative study was carried out with 80 patients. According to this study, computed tomography angiography remains the rst line of imaging for the intracranial pathology with high diagnostic accuracy rates with 92.4% sensitivity and 92.5% accuracy. In 5 patients where CTA were inconclusive, DSA was diagnostic investigation.