Application of MinDose technique in triple-rule-out CT angiography (TRO-CTA) in patients with acute chest pain

Objective:To explore the value of MinDose technique in triple-rule-out CT angiography(TRO-CTA)in patients who were with acute chest pain.Methods:Fifty patients with acute chest pain were randomly assigned to two different retrospectively ECG-gated TRO-CTA protocols:group A(regular group,n=25)with the tube current reduced to 20%of the normal tube current outside the pulsing window and group B(low-dose group,n=25)with the tube current reduced to 4% of the normal tube current outside the pulsing window(MinDose).Subjective image quality was assessed by two observers in consensus using a four-point scale.Vascular attenuation of aorta and pulmonary artery were analyzed.Estimation of effective dose(ED)was performed on the basis of dose length product(DLP).Image quality and radiation dose were compared with t-test between the two groups.Results:Subjective image quality was rated similar in both groups(3.06±0.40vs.2.91±0.44,P0.05).The effective dose of group A was significantly lower than group B((6.47±1.03)mSv vs.(7.25±1.43)mSv,P0.05).Conclusions:MinDose technique in TRO-CTA can provide diagnostic image quality at reduced radiation dose in patients with chest pain.