A comparison study of radiation effective dose in ECG-Gated Coronary CT Angiography and calcium scoring examinations performed with a dual-source CT scanner

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 4374
• Main Authors: Sabarudin, Akmal, Siong, Tiong Wei, Chin, Ang Wee, Hoong, Ng Kwan, Karim, Muhammad Khalis Abdul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 13-03-2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 639/766/747; 692/700/1421/1846/2771; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Angiography; Body Mass Index; Calcium; Calcium - metabolism; Calcium channels (voltage-gated); Calcium Signaling; Computed Tomography Angiography - instrumentation; Computed Tomography Angiography - methods; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; EKG; Electrocardiography; Female; Gender; Heart rate; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Radiation Dosage; Radiation Exposure; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Young Adult
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-40758-5

In this report we have evaluated radiation effective dose received by patients during ECG-gated CCTA examinations based on gender, heart rate, tube voltage protocol and body mass index (BMI). A total of 1,824 patients were retrospectively recruited (1,139 men and 685 women) and they were divided into Group 1 (CCTA with calcium scoring), Group 2 (CCTA without calcium scoring) and Group 3 (only calcium scoring), where the association between gender, heart rate, tube voltage protocol and body mass index (BMI) were analysed. Examinations were performed using a retrospective ECG-gated CCTA protocol and the effective doses were calculated from the dose length product with a conversion coefficient of 0.026 mSv.mGy
−1
cm
−1
. No significant differences were observed in the mean effective dose between gender in all groups. The mean estimated dose was significantly higher when the heart rate was lower in Group 1 (
p
 < 0.001) and Group 2 (
p
 = 0.002). There were also significant differences between the mean effective dose in tube voltage protocol and BMI among the three groups. The mean effective dose was positively correlated with BMI (
p
 < 0.001), but inversely related to the heart rate. This study supported the theory that a high heart rate, low tube voltage and low BMI could significantly reduce radiation dose exposure.