Renovascular CT: comparison between adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction and model-based iterative reconstruction.

AIM: To compare contrast enhancement and image quality between renovascular computed tomography (CT) images with adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR) and that with model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR).

MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board and written informed consent was waived. Twenty-five consecutive patients who underwent renovascular CT were enrolled in this study. The same raw projection data were reconstructed using ASiR 40%, 100%, and MBIR. Background noise, CT attenuation, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the renal vessels and kidneys, and image quality were compared among the three reconstruction techniques.

RESULTS: Mean background noise was significantly lower with MBIR at the first and second phases than those with ASiR 40% and 100% (p<0.0001). Mean CT attenuation of the abdominal aorta, renal artery, and renal cortex obtained at the first phase and those of the renal vein and renal medulla at the second phase were comparable among the three techniques (p=0.051-1.00). Mean SNRs of the abdominal aorta, renal artery, renal cortex, renal vein, and renal medulla were significantly higher with MBIR than with ASiR 40% or 100% (both p<0.0001). The depiction of the renal artery and vein as well as image quality significantly improved with MBIR compared with those with ASiR 40% and 100% (p<0.0001-0.0016).

CONCLUSION: Reconstruction of renovascular CT images with MBIR significantly reduces background noise, leading to an improvement in SNR and image quality compared with that using ASiR.