Radiology, Vol 198, 515-519, Copyright © 1996 by Radiological Society of North America
Artificial spine fractures: detection with helical and conventional CT
TM Link, N Meier, EJ Rummeny, S Garmann, J Steinbeck, M Schroder, M Oelerich and MD Haussler
Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospital, Westfalische Wilhems-Universitat, Munster, Germany.
PURPOSE: To compare the accuracy of detection of artificial spine fractures
with helical computed tomography (CT) versus conventional CT. MATERIALS AND
METHODS: Twenty-six motion segments from 15 human cadaver thoracolumbar
spines were imaged with helical and conventional CT both before and after
fractures were artificially induced. The vertebrae were scanned with
different collimations, reconstruction indexes, and exposure doses. A total
of 900 images were analyzed by four radiologists, and a receiver operating
characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed. RESULTS: ROC analysis showed a
large area under the curve for conventional CT (0.913) than for helical CT
(0.844) when 3-mm collimation was used. The ability to detect fractures
with helical CT increased when collimation was decreased and exposure dose
was increased. CONCLUSION: Conventional CT allows more accurate detection
of artificial spine fractures than does helical CT. Helical CT requires
thinner collimation for fracture detection comparable with that of
conventional CT.
