Objective:To investigate the feasibility of dual-energy virtual un-enhanced images(VUE)as an alternative to true un-enhanced images(TUE)of the abdomen in children.Methods:136 children who underwent abdominal enhanced dual-energy CT were retrospectively collected,and arteri-al phase VUE(VUE-AP)and venous phase VUE(VUE-VP)were reconstructed.The image noise,signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),contrast-to-noise ratio(CNR),subjective evaluation of images,and the performance in the display of occupying lesions were compared to TUE,VUE-AP,and VUE-VP.The consistency of CT values of liver,kidney,erector spinae,and lesions between VUE and TUE were ana-lyzed.Results:The image noise of VUE was lower than that of TUE,CNR was higher than that of TUE,and subjective evaluation was lower than that of TUE but both of them had diagnostic value(all P＜0.05).The CT values of all areas of VUE were lower than that of TUE(P＜0.05),but the differ-ences were subtle(mean value of the differences was＜7HU),and the concordance was acceptable.There was no statistically significant difference in lesion detection rate(88.16％vs.86.84％vs.88.16％,P=0.96,x2=0.08).The accuracy of VUE in describing the enhancement of cystic and solid lesions was consistent with that of TUE(P＞0.05).Using TUE as a standard,VUE was highly accu-rate in enhancement characteristic of lesions(＞92％).The radiation dose can be reduced by about 34.49％with VUE instead of TUE in abdominal multiphase examination.Conclusion:VUE images of dual-energy CT of the abdomen in children can reduce the radiation dose to children while meeting di-agnostic imaging needs.
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