ARTIFICIAL SPINE FRACTURES - DETECTION WITH HELICAL AND CONVENTIONAL CT

PURPOSE: To compare the accuracy of detection of artificial spine frac tures with helical computed tomography (CT) versus conventional CT. MA TERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-six motion segments from 15 human cadaver thoracolumbar spines were imaged with helical and conventional CT both before and after fractures were artificially induced. The vertebrae w ere scanned with different collimations, reconstruction indexes, and e xposure doses. A total of 900 images were analyzed by four radiologist s, and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performe d. RESULTS: ROC analysis showed a larger area under the curve for conv entional CT (0.913) than for helical CT (0.844) when 3-mm collimation was used. The ability to detect fractures with helical CT increased wh en collimation was decreased and exposure dose was increased. CONCLUSI ON: Conventional CT allows more accurate detection of artificial spine fractures than does helical CT. Helical CT requires thinner collimati on for fracture detection comparable with that of conventional CT.