Digital vascular imaging: practical aspects.

Abstract

Seventy-five pairs of digital subtraction angiogram images were evaluated for image quality by four independent observers. Each pair of images was derived from two separate injections in the same patient with only a single variable altered between injections, so that patients served as their own controls. The factors studied were contrast material iodine concentration, total volume of contrast material administered per injection, rate of contrast material injection, and catheter position. Observers consistently preferred images obtained following injection of the contrast agent with the higher concentration of iodine, following injection of the greater volume of contrast agent, and with the catheter placed in the superior vena cava rather than the basilic vein. No statistically significant difference in observer preference was found for the other categories studied.