Effects of Saline Administration, Abdominal Compression, and Prolongation of Acquisition Delay on Image Quality Improvement of CT Urography

ObjectiveTo retrospectively evaluate the effects of saline administration following contrast material injection, abdominal compression and two delay phase acquisition on image quality improvement of computed tomographic urography (CTU).MethodsMedical records and informed consents of patients were obtained. In totally 122 patients (50 men, 72 women), two delay phase images with CTU were performed. Scans began simultaneously with a contrast bolus injection of 100 mL (300 mgI/mL) followed by a saline bolus injection of 100 mL at a rate of 5 mL/s. Two delay phase images were taken at 400 and 550 seconds for each patient. Examinations were taken by using abdominal compression or not. The distention and opacification of the urinary tract were evaluated by two interpreters together on transverse images and post-processing images. Effects of four techniques (saline administration and abdominal compression, saline administration only, compression only, and neither saline administration nor compression) and two delay phase acquisition on image quality improvement were analysed by using ANOVA and Chi-square test.ResultsSaline administration improved opacification (P<0.05) and increased overall image quality (P<0.01) of the intrarenal collecting system and proximal ureter. Abdominal compression (P<0.05) and delayed phase image acquisition of 550 seconds (P<0.01) all improved distention of the intrarenal collecting system and proximal ureter but did not improve opacification. No statistically significant effects on the distal ureter were found. However, there were more visualized distal ureteral segments with the longer imaging delay.ConclusionSaline administration, abdominal compression and longer imaging delays are all effective in improving image quality of 64-detector row CTU.