Left Ventricle Blood Attenuation in Non-Contrast Chest CT Scan as a Clue for Prediction of Anemia

Purpose: One of the indirect methods that has been proposed as a way of the detection of anemia is blood attenuation in non-contrast Computed Tomography (CT) scans. Some indices of non-contrast CT scans have been studied as a clue. Most known of such indices include aortic blood density and the difference between blood density and aortic wall density. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate the left ventricle blood attenuation and its relation to patients’ hemoglobin levels. Materials and Methods: A total of 523 patients who underwent non-contrast chest CT scan with available hemoglobin levels within 48 hours of interval from CT scan acquisition were recruited for this study. Left ventricle blood attenuation was measured and the correlation with hemoglobin levels was evaluated. Results: There was found to be a linear correlation between blood attenuation in the left ventricle and hemoglobin levels (r=0.33). Our results showed that the highest level of accuracy for diagnosis of anemia is in the Hounsfield Unit of 37.5 for women and 38.5 for men (with 68% sensitivity and 60% specificity) which can be regarded as a reliable threshold. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the attenuation of the blood in the left ventricle can potentially be a hint for anemia and further evaluation for Hb levels