Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Feb 28, 2023; 15(2): 32-41
Published online Feb 28, 2023. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v15.i2.32
Effects of combining multiple dose reduction techniques on coronary computed tomography angiography
Xiao-Lu Hu, Pei-Kai Huang, Meng Zhang, Jun Chen, Meng-Qiang Xiao
Xiao-Lu Hu, Pei-Kai Huang, Meng Zhang, Jun Chen, Meng-Qiang Xiao, Department of Imaging, Zhuhai Hospital, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhuhai 650031, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Hu XL and Huang PK were involved in drafting the manuscript; Zhang M and Huang PK were involved in acquisition of data; Chen J prepared the figures; Xiao MQ reviewed and revised the manuscript; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Zhuhai Medical Research Fund, No. ZH3310200001PJL.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the institutional review board of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. BF2020-229-01.
Informed consent statement: All patients provided written consent, and written informed consent was obtained from each patient or the patient’s family before performing the computed tomography scan. This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Meng-Qiang Xiao, Doctor, Deputy Doctor, Department of Imaging, Zhuhai Hospital, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 53 Jingle Road, Zhuhai 650031, Guangdong Province, China. xmqzhuhai@163.com
Received: May 29, 2022
Peer-review started: May 29, 2022
First decision: August 22, 2022
Revised: September 23, 2022
Accepted: February 13, 2023
Article in press: February 13, 2023
Published online: February 28, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is considered to be an ideal non-invasive test for coronary heart disease (CHD). Nevertheless, as more people become aware of the dangers associated with radiation, the issue of computed tomography radiation has emerged as a major concern.

Research motivation

The present study aimed to explore the value of multiple dose reduction techniques on CCTA.

Research objectives

A consecutive sample of individuals with clinically suspected CHD was screened for inclusion in the current research. The inclusion criteria were: ≥ 18-years-old; heart rate less than 70 beats/min; and body mass index of 18.0 to 29.9 kg/m2. Patients having pacemakers, significant respiratory artifacts, metallic implants located within the scanning range, an allergy to contrast agents or Betaloc, or patients who had undergone cardiac surgery or had a history of cardiac tumors were not eligible for treatment.

Research methods

Consecutive normal and overweight patients were prospectively divided into two groups: Group A1, patients who received multiple dose reduction scans (n = 82); and group A2, patients who received conventional scans (n = 39). The scan parameters for group A1 consisted of the following: An isocentric scan, a tube voltage of 80 kV, and an 80% smart milliampere for tube current control. The scan parameters for group A2 were as follows: Normal position, tube voltage = 100 kV, and smart milliampere.

Research results

The average effective doses (EDs) for groups A1 and A2 were 1.13 ± 0.35 and 3.36 ± 1.30 mSv, respectively. A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of ED (P < 0.01). The signal-to-noise ratio as well as contrast signal-to-noise ratio of group A2 were significantly higher than those of group A1, in addition to having less noise. Moreover, the subjective image quality (IQ) scores were excellent in both groups, and the subjective IQ scores of the two groups did not differ significantly (P = 0.12).

Research conclusions

Multiple dose reduction scan techniques can significantly decrease the ED of patients receiving CCTA examinations for clinical diagnosis.

Research perspectives

This study supports the application of the multiple dose reduction scan techniques in patients receiving CCTA.