title: Estimation of the radiation exposure of a chest pain protocol with ECG-gating in dual-source computed tomography.
abstract: The aim of the study was to evaluate radiation exposure of a chest pain protocol with ECG-gated dual-source computed tomography (DSCT). An Alderson Rando phantom equipped with thermoluminescent dosimeters was used for dose measurements. Exposure was performed on a dual-source computed tomography system with a standard protocol for chest pain evaluation (120 kV, 320 mAs/rot) with different simulated heart rates (HRs). The dose of a standard chest CT examination (120 kV, 160 mAs) was also measured. Effective dose of the chest pain protocol was 19.3/21.9 mSv (male/female, HR 60), 17.9/20.4 mSv (male/female, HR 80) and 14.7/16.7 mSv (male/female, HR 100). Effective dose of a standard chest examination was 6.3 mSv (males) and 7.2 mSv (females). Radiation dose of the chest pain protocol increases significantly with a lower heart rate for both males (p = 0.040) and females (p = 0.044). The average radiation dose of a standard chest CT examination is about 36.5% that of a CT examination performed for chest pain. Using DSCT, the evaluated chest pain protocol revealed a higher radiation exposure compared with standard chest CT. Furthermore, HRs markedly influenced the dose exposure when using the ECG-gated chest pain protocol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Tuebingen, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tuebingen, Germany. dominik.ketelsen@med.uni-tuebingen.de
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ketelsen
authors.forename: Marie H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Luetkhoff
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buchgeister
authors.forename: Ilias
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tsiflikas
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reimann
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Burgstahler
authors.forename: Andreas F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Kopp
authors.forename: Claus D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Claussen
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heuschmid
mesh_terms: D001822:Body Burden; D055424:Cardiac-Gated Imaging Techniques; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D012062:Relative Biological Effectiveness; D013819:Thermoluminescent Dosimetry; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*