Application of dynamic computed tomography scan and computed tomography densitometry in the evaluation of brain volume enlargement.

Cats with brain cold injury and epidural balloon compression with sudden decompression were used as models of vasogenic or ischemic edema and vasoparalysis of the brain vessels. Dynamic CT scan and CT densitometric studies were performed to diagnose and differentiate between brain edema and vasoparalytic changes. The CT methods were found to be useful in CBF and edema zone estimation. The correlation of CT scan and CT densitometry enabled us to evaluate the degree of autoregulation disorders and can be also applied in clinical investigations.