Organ Doses and Radiation Risk of Computed Tomographic Coronary Angiography in a Clinical Patient Population: How Do Low-Dose Acquisition Modes Compare?

摘要

Recent improvements in computed tomographic (CT) technology regarding spatial and temporal resolution have established coronary CT angiography (CCTA) as a reliable imaging modality for the assessment of coronary heart disease. With the development of electrocardiogram (ECG)-based tube current modulation and the application oflow tube voltage protocols, a substantial reduction of radiation exposure in CCTA was achieved. Next to this, prospectively ECG-triggered axial scanning has shown to maintain image quality at a drastically reduced radiation dose, compared with retrospectively ECG-gated helical scanning. The second-generation dual-source CT scanner is equipped with a prospec-tively ECG-triggered high-pitch spiral scan protocol that allows scanning of the heart, with a total scan time of approximately 270 milliseconds, resulting in reported effective dose values even less than 1 mSv. Many reports on studies of CCTA feasibility, diagnostic accuracy, patient characteristics, technological advances, and radiation dose assessments for different CT generations and manufacturers are available in the literature.