Abstract
Computed tomography (CT) is an indispensable tool for imaging of the thorax and there is virtually no alternative without associated radiation burden. The authors demonstrate ultra-low-dose CT of the thorax in three interesting cases. In an 18-y-old girl with rheumatoid arthritis, CT of the thorax identified alveolitis in the posterior costophrenic angles (radiation dose = 0.2 mSv). Its resolution was demonstrated on a follow-up scan (4.2 mSv) performed elsewhere. In an 11-y-old girl, CT (0.1 mSv) showed changes of the right collar bone consistent with chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis. CT (0.1 mSv) of a 9-y-old girl with mucopolysaccharidosis revealed altogether three hamartomas, peribronchial infiltrate, and spine deformity. In some indications, the radiation dose from CT of the thorax can approach that of several plain radiographs. This may help the pediatrician in deciding whether “gentle” ultra-low-dose CT instead of observation or follow-up radiographs will alleviate the uncertainty of the diagnosis with little harm to the child.
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Contributions
LL, NEL, JZ were involved in the conception of the project. NEL and JZ were in-charge of the clinical part and LL, RB and JV of the imaging part. LL, JV, NEL drafted the manuscript. JZ critically reviewed the manuscript and all authors approved its final version.
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This work was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the local IRB.
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Source of Funding
This work is supported by the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague (PRVOUK – P27/LF1/1, PRVOUK-P03/LF1/9) and the Ministry of Health No. RVO VFN 64165.
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Lambert, L., Banerjee, R., Votruba, J. et al. Ultra-low-dose CT Imaging of the Thorax: Decreasing the Radiation Dose by One Order of Magnitude. Indian J Pediatr 83, 1479–1481 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-016-2175-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-016-2175-2