Virtual nonenhanced abdominal dual-energy MDCT: Analysis of image characteristics

Figure 1 A 52-year-old female with the kidney contrast deletion. A, B: The regular nonenhanced (A) and contrast-enhanced (B) images demonstrate kidneys with normal appearance; C: Virtual nonenhanced shows substantial deletion of contrast from the kidney parenchyma.

Figure 2 A 60-year-old male with an abdominal aortic aneurysm. A: Regular nonenhanced image demonstrates a curved calcification in the posterior border of the aneurysm with some smaller calcifications in the anterior border; B: The contrast enhanced image shows opacification of the lumen; C: Virtual nonenhanced shows preserved posterior calcifications with deletion of the smaller anterior calcifications.

Figure 3 Regular nonenhanced image (A) demonstrates two stones in the right kidney of a 64-year-old male. B: In the contrast-enhanced image, contrast excretion into the collecting system is inhibited by the stones, which are obscured; C: In the virtual nonenhanced image, the posterior stone is maintained while the anterior stone is deleted.

Figure 4 Virtual nonenhanced image of this 58-year-old female shows a lytic-like artifact in the vertebral body. The “lesion” was easily identified as an artifact.