Thin-slab maximum intensity projection of CT angiography for collateral score and clot burden score evaluation: comparison with conventional CT angiography

• Published in: Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery 2022-02, Vol.12 (2), p.1163-1171
• Main Authors: Wei, Li-Ming, Zhu, Yue-Qi, Lu, Hai-Tao, Zhao, Jun-Gong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 2223-4292; 2223-4306
• DOI: 10.21037/qims-21-170

This study aimed to exam the effects of thin-slab maximum intensity projection (TS-MIP) of computed tomography angiography (CTA) for collateral score (CS) and clot burden score (CBS) evaluation in patients with large-vessel-occlusion (LVO) stroke in the anterior circulation. Of 241 consecutive patients with LVO stroke admitted to our center between August 2015 and June 2020, 187 patients were enrolled. CS and CBS were evaluated on conventional CTA and TS-MIP separately. Outcome at 90 days was classified as good if modified Rankin scale (mRS) was ≤2 and as poor if mRS was >2. The correlations between CS and CBS and clinical outcomes were assessed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the diagnostic values of CS and CBS. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the independent predictors of 90-day good clinical outcomes. The correlation coefficient for clinical outcomes was significantly better for CS based on TS-MIP than that based on conventional CTA (-0.444 -0.285, P=0.039); no significant difference was found in the CBS evaluation (TS-MIP: -0.356 conventional CTA: -0.320, P=0.348). For predicting good clinical outcomes, TS-MIP-based CS was associated with larger area under the curve (AUC) (0.709 0.609, P=0.004) and higher sensitivity (69.1% 42.0%, P=0.001) than CS based on CTA. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, the factors independently associated with good outcomes were National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at admission (OR =1.147; P