Vascular enhancement during incremental body computed tomography. A simple and reliable technique.

Abstract

An initial manual bolus injection of contrast medium to an amount of 15 g iodine immediately followed by a manual infusion of 25 to 35 g iodine during 3 to 5 minutes will provide proper enhancement of vascular structures (110-150 HU) at incremental body computed tomography during that time and for some minutes after the end of the infusion. This technique applied in more than 1,000 examinations proved it to be reliable, simple and fast. A computed tomograph allowing 3 scans per minute permits an adequate and even level of vascular enhancement of the entire neck, mediastinum, abdomen or pelvis when continuous or more sparse slices of about 10 mm thickness are used. When the images are reconstructed without delay and presented on a monitor in the scanning suite, it is possible to individually optimize the rate of infusion and thereby also minimize the amount of contrast medium. A prerequisite for a proper vascular enhancement is a high rate of infusion initially.