Dual-Energy CT of Rectal Cancer Specimens: A CT-based Method for Mesorectal Lymph Node Characterization.

Abstract

PATIENTS

Quantitative imaging data were collected from 197 individual lymph nodes from 17 specimens, from patients with rectal cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

Dual-energy CT can be performed on rectal specimens. The discrimination between benign and malignant nodes seems promising when using iodine as contrast.

SETTINGS

Seventeen rectal specimens were examined in 2 series. The first series was conducted with 3 specimens from patients who were not given perioperative contrast; 3 had iodine-based contrast and 3 had gadolinium-based contrast. We concluded that iodine was the contrast agent of choice and therefore included 8 more patients in a second series, given iodine-based contrast, for further analysis.

RESULTS

Optimal discriminations between benign and malignant lymph nodes were obtained using the following cutoff values: 1) effective Z at 7.58 (sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 90%; and accuracy, 93%), 2) dual-energy ratio at 1.0 × 10 (sensitivity, 96%; specificity, 87%; and accuracy, 90%), 3) dual-energy index at 0.03 (sensitivity, 97%; specificity, 88%; and accuracy, 91%), and 4) iodine concentration at 2.58 μg/mL (sensitivity, 86%; specificity, 92%; and accuracy, 89%).

BACKGROUND

An accurate method to assess malignant lymph nodes in the mesorectum is needed. Dual-energy CT scans simultaneously with 2 levels of energy and thereby provides information about tissue composition based on the known effective Z value of different tissues. Each point investigated is represented by a certain effective Z value, which allows for information on its composition.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

We measured accuracy of differentiating benign from malignant lymph nodes by investigating the following: 1) gadolinium, iodine, and water concentrations in lymph nodes; 2) dual-energy ratio; 3) dual-energy index; and 4) effective Z value.

LIMITATIONS

The investigation is conducted on isolated surgical specimens from rectal cancer operations.

DESIGN

This was a descriptive and prospective study.

OBJECTIVE

We wanted to standardize a method for dual-energy scanning of rectal specimens to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of benign versus malignant lymph node differentiation. Histopathological evaluation of the nodes was our reference.