Browsing by Author "Schoenberg, Stefan"
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Item Comparison of Iodine Quantification and Conventional Attenuation Measurements for Differentiating Small, Truly Enhancing Renal Masses From High-Attenuation Nonenhancing Renal Lesions With Dual-Energy CT(2019) Meyer, Mathias; Nelson, Rendon; Vernuccio, Federica; González, Fernando; Schabel, Christoph; Mileto, Achille; Patel, Bhavik; Schoenberg, Stefan; Marin, DanieleOBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study is to determine whether iodine quantification techniques from contrast-enhanced dual-energy CT (DECT) data allow equal differentiation of small enhancing renal masses from high-attenuation (> 20 HU of unenhanced attenuation) nonenhancing lesions, compared with conventional attenuation measurements. MATERIALS AND METHODS. A total of 220 nonconsecutive patients (mean [± SD] age, 66 ± 13 years; 130 men and 90 women) with 265 high-attenuation renal lesions (mean attenuation, 54 ± 33 HU; 91 enhancing lesions) were included. Each patient underwent single-energy unenhanced CT followed by DECT during the nephrographic phase using one of four different high-end DECT platforms (first- and second-generation rapid-kilovoltage-switching DECT platforms and second- and third-generation dual-source DECT platforms). Iodine quantification measurements and conventional attenuation change measurements were calculated for each lesion. Diagnostic accuracy was determined by pathologic analysis, confirmation with another imaging modality, or greater than 24 months of imaging follow-up as the reference standard. RESULTS. The diagnostic accuracy for differentiating enhancing from nonenhancing renal lesions was significantly higher for conventional attenuation change measurements, compared with iodine quantification measurements (AUC values, 0.973 vs 0.875; p < 0.0001). The diagnostic performance of iodine quantification measurements improved only marginally with the utilization of DECT platform-specific optimized iodine quantification thresholds, yielding AUC values of 0.907 and 0.893 for the rapid-kilovoltage-switching DECT and dual-source DECT platforms, respectively. Unenhanced lesion attenuation (p = 0.0010) and intraparenchymal location (p = 0.0249) significantly influenced the diagnostic accuracy of the iodine quantification techniques. CONCLUSION. Iodine quantification from DECT data yields inferior diagnostic accuracy when compared with conventional attenuation change measurements for differentiating small, truly enhancing renal masses and high-attenuation renalItem Virtual Unenhanced Images at Dual-Energy CT: Influence on Renal Lesion Characterization(RSNA, 2019-05) Meyer, Mathias; Nelson, Rendon; Vernuccio, Federica; González, Fernando; Farjat, Alfredo; Patel, Bhavik; Samei, Ehsan; Henzler, Thomas; Schoenberg, Stefan; Marin, DanieleBackground Dual-energy (DE) CT allows reconstruction of virtual noncontrast (VNC) images from a single-phase contrast agent-enhanced examination, potentially reducing the need for multiphasic CT to characterize renal lesions. However, data regarding diagnostic performance of VNC images for the characterization of renal lesions are limited. Purpose To determine whether renal mass CT performed by using VNC images allows for reliable identification of renal lesions and differentiation of contrast-enhanced from unenhanced lesions, compared with unenhanced images. Materials and Methods This is a retrospective study of 293 patients (105 women [mean age, 65 years; age range, 18-91 years] and 188 men [mean age, 66 years; age range, 23-90 years] with 379 renal lesions [craniocaudal diameter, 1.0-4.0 cm]) who underwent a single-energy unenhanced CT examination followed by a nephrographic-phase DE CT between June 2013 and October 2017 by using one of four different DE CT platforms from two vendors. VNC images were calculated by using vendor-specific algorithms. Each lesion was classified in a blinded and independent fashion by using the VNC or unenhanced image in combination with the nephrographic images. Attenuation measurements were obtained on the VNC, unenhanced, and nephrographic images. Unenhanced images and pathologic or imaging follow-up for more than 24 months served as reference standard. Results There was strong overall agreement between VNC and unenhanced images for renal lesion characterization (Cramer V = 0.85). VNC images yielded a high diagnostic performance (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.91; 95% confidence interval: 0.86, 0.95) for facilitation of differentiation of contrast-enhanced from unenhanced renal lesions. However, there was a reduction in diagnostic performance for depicting contrast-enhanced renal lesions by using VNC compared with unenhanced images (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.91 [95% confidence interval: 0.86, 0.95] vs 0.96 [95% confidence interval: 0.93, 0.99]; P < .001). Mean absolute difference between the VNC and unenhanced attenuation was 9.2 HU ± 8.7. Conclusion Virtual noncontrast images enabled accurate renal lesion characterization, albeit with a reduction in diagnostic performance for contrast-enhanced lesion characterization.