Comparison of ureteric stone size, on bone window versus standard soft-tissue window settings, on multi-detector non-contrast computed tomography

OBJECTIVE: To compare the difference in mean stone size, as measured on bone window vs standard soft-tissue window setting using multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) in patients with a solitary ureteric stone. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 60 patients presenting to the emergency and outpatient departments of a University Hospital from May 2015 to October 2015 and fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included in the study. A 64-slice MDCT was used to assess the locations and size of the ureteric stones. A consultant radiologist independently analysed the MDCT scans of all the patients. The mean difference in stone size was calculated between both window settings in axial and coronal planes. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of the patients was 37.13 (11.9) years. Males constituted ∼68% of the cohort and 32% were female. In all, 85% of the patients had left ureteric stones and 15% had right ureteric stones. The mean (SD) stone size, as measured on the soft-tissue window setting was 6.68 (2.01) mm, and on the bone window setting was 4.8 (1.9) mm. The mean (SD) difference in stone size between the two window settings was +1.85 (0.55) mm. The two means were compared using Student’s t-test, and the difference was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The stone size measured using the soft-tissue window setting on a MDCT is significantly different from the measurement on the bone window setting.