Accuracy of the detection of infratentorial stroke lesions using perfusion CT: an experimenter-blinded study.

INTRODUCTION

Although perfusion CT (PCT) for the detection of supratentorial stroke is well established, there is a dearth of evidence of its effectiveness in the detection of infratentorial stroke. Hence, this study compared sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of PCT maps between infratentorial and supratentorial stroke lesions.

METHODS

One hundred patients with acute stroke who had successfully undergone near whole-brain PCT with the toggling table technique and follow-up MRI were included. Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test was performed at P<0.01.

RESULTS

There was no significant statistical difference in the accuracy (91.79% vs. 93.23% in regional cerebral blood volume; 92.26% vs. 95.31% in regional cerebral blood flow; 89.17% vs. 92.71% in mean transit time; 89.76% vs. 92.19% in time to peak; P>0.01 in all PCT maps) between supratentorial and infratentorial stroke. Also, there was no remarkable difference in both sensitivity and specificity of PCT maps.

CONCLUSION

This was the first study to investigate the accuracy of PCT with the toggling table technique in detection of infratentorial stroke lesions. Clinically, PCT is highly reliable and accurate in detecting infratentorial stroke lesions.