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Aortic CT angiography using the double region of interest timing bolus technique: feasibility of 80 kVp scanning in lean patients

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Abstract

To investigate the feasibility of aortic computed tomography angiography (CTA) performed at 80 kVp in lean patients using the double region of interest timing bolus (DRTB) technique compared to 100 kVp scanning. This study was approved by the institutional ethics committee, and all patients provided written informed consent. We prospectively included 165 patients from July 2018 to February 2019. We used an 80 kVp protocol when the maximal tube current did not exceed the limit using automatic exposure control; otherwise, 100 kVp was selected. The scan parameters for aortic CTA were determined from the test scan data. Enhancement at six points of the aortoiliac arteries and noise at the bifurcation level were measured. We compared the enhancement and signal to noise ratio (SNR) using Student’s t-test. The tube voltage was 80 kVp in 87 patients (53%). The enhancement of the aortoiliac arteries was significantly higher (449.3 ± 77.8 vs 378.7 ± 53.1 HU, p < 0.0001) and the SNR was similar (42.4 ± 11.1 vs 40.0 ± 10.6, p = 0.17), and the amount of contrast medium was lower (33.0 ± 2.5 vs 41.8 ± 3.3 ml, p < 0.001) in the 80 kVp group compared to the 100 kVp group. Reducing the tube current to 80 kVp could decrease the amount of contrast medium used compared to the 100 kVp protocol, while maintaining image quality, for aortic CTA using the DRTB technique.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, New Tokyo Hospital, 1271 Wanagaya, Matsudo, 270-2232, Chiba, Japan

    Nobuo Tomizawa, Shingo Ito, Hiroaki Arakawa, Kodai Yamamoto, Shinichi Inoh & Takeshi Nojo

  2. Department of Radiology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan

    Nobuo Tomizawa

  3. Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, New Tokyo Hospital, 1271 Wanagaya, Matsudo, 270-2232, Chiba, Japan

    Tastuya Nakao

  4. Department of Cardiology, New Tokyo Hospital, 1271 Wanagaya, Matsudo, 270-2232, Chiba, Japan

    Sunao Nakamura

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  1. Nobuo Tomizawa
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  2. Shingo Ito
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  3. Tastuya Nakao
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  4. Hiroaki Arakawa
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  8. Sunao Nakamura
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Correspondence to Nobuo Tomizawa.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Tomizawa, N., Ito, S., Nakao, T. et al. Aortic CT angiography using the double region of interest timing bolus technique: feasibility of 80 kVp scanning in lean patients. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 35, 2113–2121 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-019-01660-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-019-01660-3

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