Publication Date
3-1-2022
Journal
The Texas Heart Journal
DOI
10.14503/THIJ-18-6793
Publication Date(s)
March 2022
Language
English
PMCID
PMC9053663
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
3-4-2022
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-Print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Coronary angiography/methods, coronary artery disease/diagnostic imaging, multidetector computed tomography/instrumentation, predictive value of tests, prospective studies, radiation dosage, radiation exposure/prevention & control, risk factors, vascular calcification/diagnostic imaging
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Computed tomographic coronary artery calcium scanning enables cardiovascular risk stratification; however, exposing patients to high radiation levels is an ongoing concern. New-generation computed tomographic systems use lower radiation doses than older systems do. To quantify comparative doses of radiation exposure, we prospectively acquired images from 220 patients with use of a 64-slice GE LightSpeed VCT scanner (control group, n=110) and a 256-slice GE Revolution scanner (study group, n=110). The groups were matched for age, sex, and body mass index; statistical analysis included t tests and linear regression.
The mean dose-length product was 21% lower in the study group than in the control group (60.2 ± 27 vs 75.9 ± 22.6 mGy·cm; P <0.001) and also in each body mass index subgroup. Similarly, the mean effective radiation dose was 21% lower in the study group (0.84 ± 0.38 vs 1.06 ± 0.32 mSv) and lower in each weight subgroup. After adjustment for sex, women in the study group had a lower dose-length product (50.4 ± 23.4 vs 64.7 ± 27.6 mGy·cm) than men did and received a lower effective dose (0.7 ± 0.32 vs 0.9 ± 0.38 mSv) (P=0.009). As body mass index and waist circumference increased, so did doses for both scanners.
Our study group was exposed to radiation doses lower than the previously determined standard of 1 mSv, even after adjustment for body mass index and waist circumference. In 256-slice scanning for coronary artery calcium, radiation doses are now similar to those in lung cancer screening and mammography.