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Minimizing the acquisition phase in coronary CT angiography using the second generation 320-row CT

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Japanese Journal of Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

A Letter to the Editor to this article was published on 23 August 2014

Abstract

Purpose

We aimed to compare the radiation dose and image quality of a minimal phase window centered at 77 % compared with a wide phase window in coronary CT angiography using the second-generation 320-row CT.

Materials and methods

Eighty patients with heart rate ≤75 bpm were retrospectively included. The first 40 patients underwent scanning with a wide phase window (65–85 %), while the last 40 patients underwent scanning with a minimal phase window centered at 77 %. Subjective image quality was graded using a 4-point scale (4 = excellent). Image noise and contrast-to-noise ratio at the proximal segments were also analyzed. The mean effective dose was derived from the dose length product multiplied by a chest conversion coefficient (κ = 0.014 mSv mGy−1 cm−1).

Results

Minimal phase window scanning centered at 77 % reduced the radiation dose by 30 % compared with wide phase window scanning (1.7 vs 2.4 mSv, p = 0.0009). The subjective image quality showed no significant difference (3.75 vs 3.76, p = 0.77). No significant difference was observed in the image noise, CT number, and contrast-to-noise ratio.

Conclusions

Radiation dose could be reduced while maintaining image quality by use of a minimal phase window centered at 77 % compared with a wide phase window in coronary CT angiography using the second generation 320-row CT.

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Conflict of interest

Rumiko Torigoe is an employee of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation. The other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Nobuo Tomizawa, Shigeaki Kanno, Eriko Maeda, Masaaki Akahane & Kuni Ohtomo

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

    Nobuo Tomizawa

  3. Department of Radiology, NTT Medical Center Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Masaaki Akahane

  4. Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

    Rumiko Torigoe

Authors
  1. Nobuo Tomizawa
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  2. Shigeaki Kanno
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  3. Eriko Maeda
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  4. Masaaki Akahane
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  5. Rumiko Torigoe
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  6. Kuni Ohtomo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nobuo Tomizawa.

Appendix

Appendix

In order to determine the optimal phase for a minimal phase window, the records of 375 consecutive patients who underwent coronary CT angiography from January to December 2012 were retrospectively examined. Diastolic phase was used for reconstruction in 286 of these patients, and the average (±standard deviation) phase with minimum motion artifacts was 77.2 ± 3.5 % of the RR interval. Thus, we set the target phase to 77 % when coronary CT angiography was performed with a minimal phase window.

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Tomizawa, N., Kanno, S., Maeda, E. et al. Minimizing the acquisition phase in coronary CT angiography using the second generation 320-row CT. Jpn J Radiol 32, 391–396 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-014-0321-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-014-0321-1

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