High pitch CT in triple rule-out studies: Radiation dose and image quality compared Chest pain; to multidetector CT

Objective: To compare the image quality and radiation dose from high pitch dual source CT (128DSCT) versus those from retrospective acquisition with 64-row multidetector CT (64-MDCT) in triple rule-out studies. Material and methods: We retrospectively studied 60 patients with acute chest pain: 30 with a retrospective EKG acquisition with 64-MDCT and 30 with high pitch 128-DSCT. We quantitatively analyzed the image quality by calculating the vascular density, muscular density (DM), noise, vascular density/noise ratio (VDNR), and contrast/noise ratio (CNR). We qualitatively evaluated the artifacts in the vena cava, aorta, and coronary arteries. We estimated the effective dose (ED) of radiation by means of the dose-length product. Results: There were no significant differences between 128-DSCT and 64-MDCT in the vascular density. The VDNR and CNR were higher on 128-DSCT than on 64-MDCT in the aorta (VDNR: 28.9 +/- 11.7 vs. 20 5.5; CNR: 24.4 1O.9 vs. 16.8 5.4; P<.01), in the pulmonary arteries (VDNR: 25.5 +/- 10 vs. 20.6 +/- 6.5; CNR: 24.5 +/- s.4 vs. 17.4 +/- 6.4; P<.01), and in the coronary arteries (VDNR: 25.9 8.2 vs. 18.9 4.9; CNR: 24.9 8.2 vs. 15.6 4.6; P<.01). There were fewer artifacts in the coronary arteries on 128-DSCT than on 64-MDCT (3 vs. 34 nondiagnostic segments; P<.001), and the ED in 128-DSCT was lower than in 64-MDCT (13.77 +/- 4 vs. 2.77 +/- 0.6 mSv; P<.001). Conclusion: In triple rule-out studies, high pitch 128-DSCT delivers a lower dose of radiation and provides better image quality than retrospective acquisition with 64-MDCT. (C) 2014 SERAM. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.