Efficacy of dual-layer spectral detector computed tomography for detecting early ischemic changes in patients with acute ischemic stroke: A pilot study

Qualitative assessment was conducted by two radiologists using the modified Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score methodology. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to evaluate diagnostic performance, and kappa statistics were used to assess interobserver agreement.

Significant differences were observed in the conventional CT and ED values but not in effective Z values between the infarcted and contralateral regions. Furthermore, interobserver agreement was better for ED imaging than for conventional.

Qualitative analysis revealed that ED images showed better agreement with MRI findings and higher interobserver consistency than conventional 120-kVp images.

Hence, the authors concluded that DLCT demonstrated significant advantages in detecting EICs in acute ischemic stroke, with higher diagnostic accuracy and interobserver agreement obtained with ED imaging than with conventional CT imaging. These findings suggest that ED imaging can improve lesion visualization, potentially enhancing diagnostic reliability in emergency stroke settings.

Ref: Honda K, Oda S, Kondo D, Kujirai R, Higuchi K, Osaki T et al. Efficacy of dual-layer spectral detector computed tomography for detecting early ischemic changes in patients with acute ischemic stroke: A pilot study. J Clin Imaging Sci. 2025;15:11. doi: 10.25259/JCIS_171_2024