[Dose reduction at CT of the lumbar spine using a 320-detector row scanner: initial results].
OBJECTIVE
To compare radiation dose and image quality for CT of the lumbar spine between helical CT and wide volume mode scanning with a 320-detector row CT.


METHODS
Monocenter prospective study on 20 consecutive patients divided into two groups. All 20 patients underwent lumbar spine CT on the 320-detector row scanner (Aquilion One, Toshiba). The CT examinations for group 1 were performed using the wide volume mode with 320 detector rows while the CT examinations for group 2 were performed using a 64-detector row helical CT mode. The acquisition length and delivered dose corresponding to the DLPe (extended dose length product) as well as qualitative and quantitative image quality were compared between both groups.


RESULTS
The mean acquisition length was comparable between both groups. There was a significant dose reduction of about 35% for group 1 compared to group 2 (mean DLPe of 970 mGy.cm for group 1 compared to 1503 mGy.cm for group 2, p<0.028) when using the wide volume mode acquisition at 320-detector row CT compared to the 64-detector row helical CT mode. No significant difference was noted for image quality between both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The acquisition of lumbar CT using the wide volume mode at 320-detector row CT allows significant dose reduction to patients compared to the 64-detector row helical CT mode while preserving image quality.
Gervaise
A
A
Service d'Imagerie Guilloz, Hôpital Central, CHU Nancy, 29 avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 54035 Nancy cedex. alban.gervaise@hotmail.fr
Louis
M
M
Batch
T
T
Loeuille
D
D
Noel
A
A
Guillemin
F
F
Blum
A
A
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*