Presentation
Headache.
Patient Data
Age: 20 years
Gender: Male
From the case:
Polycythemia with dense vessels on head CT
{"current_user":null,"step_through_annotations":true,"access":{"can_edit":false,"can_download":true,"can_toggle_annotations":true,"can_feature":false,"can_examine_pipeline_reports":false,"can_pin":false},"extraPropsURL":"/studies/142185/annotated_viewer_json?lang=us"}
Case Discussion
At first glance, the noncontrast series of this head CT could be mistaken for an inadvertent contrast-enhanced scan. However, that was not the case, and this patient has a history of polycythemia vera, which can result in abnormally increased blood attenuation which is most noticeable on this head CT. The separate contrast-enhanced images can be viewed for comparison.
Blood attenuation is normally around 40 HU and is directly related to the protein content of hemoglobin and hematocrit. Iron in hemoglobin makes a minimal contribution 2.
Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.