Extracranial tumor vascularity: determination by dynamic CT scanning. Part I: Concepts and signature curves.

Combined conventional drip infusion-dynamic CT scanning was performed on 28 patients with clinically discovered neck or parapharyngeal space masses. Seventeen of these also had digital venous study or angiographic studies either to confirm the CT diagnosis or as part of an embolization procedure. The studies indicate that the initial portion of the dynamic scan curve can be characteristically classified as either an arterial, venous, or hypovascular signature curve. The current ideas of how these curves are generated, the specific appearance of these signature curves, and the types of pathologic conditions that correlate with each curve are discussed.