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Evaluation of complex congenital heart disease in infants using low dose cardiac computed tomography

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Abstract

Despite advances in new CT techniques with radiation dose reduction, there are limited studies describing radiation dose. Describing radiation dose might help to educate physicians on how the benefit of cardiac CT outweighs the potential risk of radiation. The aim of this study was to describe the radiation exposure parameters in newborns and infants and the role of CT scan in providing useful information for optimal surgical planning and management of newborns and infants with complex congenital heart disease. In complex congenital heart disease delineating the anatomy and using the CT images as needed for three-dimensional modelling helps for optimal surgical planning. This single center, retrospective study included 74 infants with CHD (median age 2 months, range 1 day to 9 months) who underwent cardiac CT evaluation from September 2018 to April 2019, using the Siemens Somatom Definition Edge scanner. Total dose length product (DLP) and computed tomographic dose index volume (CTDIvol) were recorded, and the estimated effective radiation dose was calculated using a previously published conversion rate. Median effective radiation dose for the computed tomographic angiography (CTA) was 0.6 mSv. The median DLP was 13 mGycm and median CTDIvol was 3.5 mGy. Cardiac CT can be done with a sub-mSv dose in infants. Cardiac CT completes the standard initial evaluation of neonates and infants with complex CHD, allowing thorough understanding of complex spatial relationships between anatomical and defective structures, and is achievable with minimal radiation exposure.

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Abbreviations

CHD:

Congenital heart disease

CT:

Computed tomography

TTE:

Transthoracic echocardiography

CTA:

Computed tomographic angiography

DLP:

Dose length product

CTDIvol:

Computed tomographic dose index volume

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the staff of the Cardiovascular computed tomography unit at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital for their support in this work.

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This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or non-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical School at Houston/McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, 6410 Fannin Street, Suite 425, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Jannika Dodge-Khatami & Dilachew A. Adebo

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  1. Jannika Dodge-Khatami
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  2. Dilachew A. Adebo
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Correspondence to Dilachew A. Adebo.

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This study was approved by Institutional Review Board of Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital.

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Dodge-Khatami, J., Adebo, D.A. Evaluation of complex congenital heart disease in infants using low dose cardiac computed tomography. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 37, 1455–1460 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-020-02118-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-020-02118-7

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