Arterial injection-digital subtraction angiography.

The authors report on a series of 60 patients who underwent arterial injection-digital subtraction angiography (AI-DSA) for evaluation of suspected cerebrospinal disease. High-quality images were consistently obtained, facilitating accurate diagnosis of a wide variety of traumatic, inflammatory, and neoplastic conditions. As experience has accumulated, the AI-DSA technique has all but supplanted conventional film-screen serialography at this institution. Important advantages of AI-DSA include reduced procedural time and decreased contrast agent burden, which mean increased patient safety. Film costs can also be markedly reduced. Moreover, image quality (information content) is not significantly affected. The technique is especially useful in emergency situations, in cases where multiple arterial injections and serialograms are required, and in cases in which transcatheter embolization is carried out. We feel these considerations will insure broadened application of this diagnostic modality as the AI-DSA equipment becomes more widely available.