[A prospective study about an imaging quality of low dosage of contrast media with single-detector CT].
OBJECTIVE
The steadily elevating cost of the contrast-enhanced CT has been a problem in last decade. One approach to curtail the cost is to reduce the amount of contrast media (CM). The purpose of this study was to examine the possibility of reducing the volume of CM in single-detector CT (SDCT) without compromising diagnostic ability.


METHODS
One hundred ml of Iohexol 300 and 75 ml of Ioversol 320 were compared in a prospective CT study about their imaging quality. One hundred patients were randomly divided into two parallel groups (A and B). The former agent was used for group A and the latter for B. CT attenuations of the aorta, central vein, spleen and kidney were measured and each imaging quality was reviewed by three radiologists.


RESULTS
CT attenuations and the imaging quality were significantly superior (p<0.05) in A group, however, comparing in the condition under 50 kg patients, they showed no significant differences and the quality was tolerable for diagnosis in both group.


CONCLUSIONS
This demonstrates the difficulty to perform the high-quality CT with a reduced CM in SDCT. However, this does not negate the diagnostic ability of low dose of CM, but reflects the importance of determining the acceptable lowest doze of CM for diagnosis.
Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyushu University.
Madoka
M
Saku
Junji
J
Murakami
Yuusuke
Y
Nakamura
Toshihiro
T
Yamaguchi
Tetsushi
T
Komori
Masahiko
M
Kimura
Shuuichi
S
Oguri
Tomoyuki
T
Noguchi
Takashi
T
Iida
Takeshi
T
Kamitani
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007472:Iohexol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014283:Triiodobenzoic Acids / Q000009:adverse effects
D003287:Contrast Media; D014283:Triiodobenzoic Acids; D007472:Iohexol; C054871:ioversol