Purpose: Preoperative three-dimensional computed tomography is currently the gold standard imaging modality in patients with craniofacial anomalies. In these patients, bone structural evaluation is paramount for surgical planning and evaluation of brain parenchyma is often secondary. With the significant complexity of these patients, a majority of patients undergo multiple Computed Tomography (CT) studies from infancy into adulthood. This study presents an ultra-low-dose CT protocol that limits the radiation exposure per CT scan in patients with craniofacial anomalies.
Material And Methods: A total of 200 consecutive patients who underwent head CT for preoperative evaluation of craniofacial anomalies at Tertiary Children's Hospital were included in the study. The kVp, (KiloVoltage Peak) mA (milliAnperage), CT dose index (CTDI), and dose-length product (DLP) were documented from the dose page. Patients were stratified based on age for determining age specific effective dose and for age matched comparison. The age specific effective dose was derived by using the established conversion factor as described in the paper. (1) Standard t test was performed to determine the statistical significance of radiation dose reduction. The Institutional Review Board approved the study and data was collected from 2012-2014.
Findings: Of the 200 patients assessed in our study, 90 patients had low-dose CT scans and 110 patients had ultra-low-dose CT scans of the head. All patients had diagnostic quality CT studies. The low-dose CT was performed at 120 kVp and 100 mA. The ultra-low-dose CT was performed at 80 kVp and fixed 80 mA. The minimum, maximum and mean effective dose before the introduction of the ultra-low-dose protocol was 0.8 mSv, 6.9 mSV and 2.82 mSv. The minimum, maximum and mean effective dose after the introduction of the ultra-low-dose protocol was 0.6 mSv, 3.8 mSV, and 1.37 mSv. The reduction in the effective radiation dose was statistically significant (standard t test; P = 0.0001).
Conclusion: Compared to the regular low-dose protocol, the ultra-low-dose CT protocol provided appropriate diagnostic images with a significantly decreased radiation dose.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/SCS.0000000000007140 | DOI Listing |
J Vasc Surg Cases Innov Tech
April 2025
Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Teaching and Research Hospital Lucerne, Luzern, Switzerland.
Objective: The aim of this single-center case series is to demonstrate that an ultra-low dose (ULD) can be routinely achieved in the hybrid operating room in standard endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) for infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm by adjusting the manufacturer's predefined imaging parameters, hardware configurations and user protocols (including benchmarking).
Methods: The hybrid operating room manufacturer predefined EVAR software setup of the dose exposure control software (OPTIQ, Siemens Healthineers, Forchheim, Germany) at our university medical center was screened for possible improvements regarding radiation dose application. Tests on a water-equivalent as well as polymethyl methacrylate phantom model to assess the impact of technical settings were performed, including comparison of settings for exposure control software, different magnification, collimation configurations and detector distance.
Eur Radiol
December 2024
Thoracic Surgery Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy.
Objectives: To assess the consistency of automated measurements of coronary artery calcification (CAC) burden and emphysema extent on computed tomography (CT) images acquired with different radiation dose protocols in a lung cancer screening (LCS) population.
Materials And Methods: The patient cohort comprised 361 consecutive screenees who underwent a low-dose CT (LDCT) scan and an ultra-low-dose CT (ULDCT) scan at an incident screening round. Exclusion criteria for CAC measurements were software failure and previous history of CVD, including coronary stenting, whereas for emphysema assessment, software failure only.
World J Radiol
November 2024
Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University College Cork, Cork T12 AK54, Ireland.
Background: Incidental pulmonary nodules are an increasingly common finding on computed tomography (CT) scans of the thorax due to the exponential rise in CT examinations in everyday practice. The majority of incidental pulmonary nodules are benign and correctly identifying the small number of malignant nodules is challenging. Ultra-low-dose CT (ULDCT) has been shown to be effective in diagnosis of respiratory pathology in comparison with traditional standard dose techniques.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Med Imaging Radiat Oncol
November 2024
Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Introduction: CT has replaced skull radiography as the gold standard for assessment of craniosynostosis in children. To minimise the risks of ionising radiation in this radiosensitive population, low-dose CT protocols are increasingly being adopted. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an ultra-low-dose CT protocol with a tin filter in reducing radiation exposure whilst maintaining diagnostic quality for craniosynostosis, and its utility in the evaluation of other findings not appreciable on skull radiography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pediatr Surg
October 2024
Department of Surgery, Macon and Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University, 825 Fairfax Ave, Norfolk, VA, 23507, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Macon and Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University, 601 Children's Lane, Norfolk, VA, 23507, USA. Electronic address:
Aim: Evaluation of ultra-low dose chest CT imaging for the assessment of pectus excavatum severity as determined by pediatric radiologists and pediatric surgeons using Haller (HI) and Correction indices (CI).
Methods: A single institution, prospective evaluation of patients being evaluated for pectus excavatum were scanned with a standard low-dose chest CT protocol (CARE) followed by a consecutive ultra-low dose CT scan (ULTRA). 3 surgeons and 4 radiologists were instructed to determine HI and CI in each series.
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