Role of CT Brain Perfusion in Ischemic Stroke

Abstract

Perfusion CT was introduced to help identify and quantify the presence and extent of a perfusion deficit in patients presenting with acute stroke symptoms. The level of perfusion to the ischemic tissues may help to determine the relative benefits and risks of a given therapy. The use of other perfusion imaging techniques such as MRI may be limited by their availability. Although the concept of perfusion CT is not new, the ability to measure perfusion parameters with accuracy has been made possible with the development of high-speed multidetector CT scanners having solid-state detectors and a gantry design to contain the very high gravitational forces generated by high-speed rotation of the x-ray tube. Software development has allowed rapid electronic transfer of data from the detector arrays and rapid image reconstruction for perfusion analysis.