Ultra‑low dose one‑step CT angiography for coronary, carotid and cerebral arteries using 128‑slice dual‑source CT: A feasibility study

Zhao,Lei; Bao,Jiaqi; Guo,Youmin; Li,Jianbo; Yang,Xiaoguang; Lv,Tiegang; Hao,Fen'e; Wang,Zefeng; Yang,Zhenxing; Liu,Aishi

doi:10.3892/etm.2019.7420

Ultra‑low dose one‑step CT angiography for coronary, carotid and cerebral arteries using 128‑slice dual‑source CT: A feasibility study

Authors:
- Lei Zhao
- Jiaqi Bao
- Youmin Guo
- Jianbo Li
- Xiaoguang Yang
- Tiegang Lv
- Fen'e Hao
- Zefeng Wang
- Zhenxing Yang
- Aishi Liu
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Affiliations: Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010050, P.R. China, Department of Cardiology, Inner Mongolia People's Hospital, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010020, P.R. China, Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
Published online on: March 20, 2019 https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2019.7420
Pages: 4167-4175
Copyright: © Zhao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Atherosclerotic diseases are systemic and patient outcomes depend on comprehensive imaging evaluation. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) is a powerful tool used to assess atherosclerosis. However, the scanning protocol is designed for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular imaging, which require considerations into the radiation dose, contrast agent and image quality. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate ultra‑low dose one‑step CTA for coronary, carotid and cerebral arteries with a low concentration contrast agent. A total of 78 patients were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups: Group A (n=38) and B (n=40). High‑pitch CTA for coronary, carotid and cerebral arteries with a tube voltage of 70 or 80 kVp and 40 ml contrast agent (270 mgI/ml) was performed by a 128‑slice dual‑source CT scanner for group A. Standard high‑pitch CTA with a tube voltage of 100 kVp and 60 ml contrast agent (370 mgI/ml) was conducted for group B. The image quality, radiation dose and amount of contrast agent in group A were evaluated and compared with group B. The dose length product for groups A and B was 62.95±21.54 vs. 160.15±15.13 mGy cm, respectively (t=‑23.157, P<0.001). The mean total iodine content was 10.8±0 mg for group A and 22.2±0 mg for group B. In total, 99.4% of the arterial segments could be assessed for the two groups (χ2=0.267, P=0.606). The results revealed that ultra‑low dose one‑step high‑pitch CTA can provide assessable image quality, and minimize the radiation dose and contrast agent.

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