Dual-energy CT of the brain and intracranial vessels.

Objective: The purpose of this review is to summarize the principles and applications of dual-energy CT in evaluation of the brain and the intracranial blood vessels.

Conclusion: One major advantage of dual-energy CT is the capability of material differentiation. In general, this property can be applied to bone removal in CT angiography for easier and faster postprocessing. In neuroradiology, material decomposition allows detection of hemorrhage on contrast-enhanced CT scans and facilitates the search for the underlying pathologic mechanism of hematomas. The combination of low radiation dose and advantageous spectral information (blood vs contrast) from these datasets justifies broad clinical implementation of dual-energy CT in neuroradiology.