Application value of low radiation dose coronary angiography using 320-slice volume CT

Objective To evaluate the image quality and radiation dose of prospective electrocardiography-triggered coronary 320-slice volume CT angiography with different kV, and the feasibility of coronary scan with ＜ 1 mSv radiation dose.Methods Eighty consecutive patients were randomly divided into two groups equally.The tube voltage according to paradigm was 100 kV in group A and 120 kV in group B.All raw data in group A was reconstructed by the software AIDR in CT system to create a new group named as A1. Such parameters as the mean intraluminal attenuation (SI),noise (SD),signal-to-noise ratio (SNR),contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR),effective radiation dose(E) and image quality score measured in group A were compared with those in group B.The values such as SI,SD,SNR,CNR,image quality scores were compared between group A and group A1.The significance of group B and group A1 was compared in SI,SD,SNR,CNR,image quality scores as well.Results E in group A was significantly lower than that in group B[ E =(0.67 ± 0.18) mSv in group A vs.E =(3.08 ± 1.04) mSv in group B].The value of E in group A was decreased by 78％ compared to group B(t =- 14.30,P＜0.05 ).There was no significant difference in mean image quality scores between two groups(4.57 ± 0.57in groupA vs.4.59 ± 0.59 in group B,t=-1.17,P＞0.05).The values of SI,SD,SNR,CNR in group A were (570.8 ±131.5)HU,25.1 ±6.9,24.5 ±9.1,19.8 ±6.1.And the values of SI,SD,SNR,CNR in group B were (460.6 ± 14.3) HU,15.1 ±3.6,31.7 ±7.7,29.3 ±6.8.The values of SI and SD in group A were significantly higher than those in group B(t =4.49,8.18,P ＜0.05). The values of SNR and CNR in group A were lower than those in group B (t =-4.24,-6.19,P＜0.05).The valuesofS1,SD,SNR,CNR,image quality scores in group Al were (557.9 ±24.5) HU,21.1 ±6.0,27.7±10.0,23.4±7.8,4.60 ± 0.56.There was no difference in the SI and the image quality scores between group A and group A1 ( t =1.09,- 1.90,P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions 320-slice volume CT with 100 kV tube voltage and prospective ECG-triggered technique can reduce the radiation dose to less than 1 mSv and obtain optimal images in diagnosis of coronary arterial diseases. Key words: 320-slice volume CT;  Coronary angiography;  Noise;  Radiation dose