title: The value of low-dose prospective ECG-gated dual-source CT angiography in the diagnosis of coarctation of the aorta in infants and children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the value of prospective electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) in the diagnosis of coarctation of the aorta (CoA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen patients clinically suspected of having CoA underwent prospective ECG-gated DSCT angiography and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Surgery was performed in all patients. The diagnostic accuracy of DSCT angiography and TTE was compared with the surgical findings as the reference standard. Image quality was evaluated using a five-point scale. Effective radiation dose was calculated from the dose-length product (DLP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  CoA was diagnosed in 17 patients by DSCT angiography and in 16 patients by TTE. A total of 46 separate cardiovascular abnormalities were confirmed by surgical findings. The diagnostic accuracy of DSCT angiography and TTE was 96.32% and 97.06%, respectively. There was no significant difference in the diagnostic accuracy between DSCT angiography and TTE (χ(2) = 0, p > 0.05). The mean score of image quality was 4.2 ± 0.8. The mean effective dose was 0.69 ± 0.09 mSv.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prospective ECG-gated DSCT with a low radiation dose is a valuable technique in the diagnosis of CoA in infants and children.
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment of Cardio-Cerebral Vascular Diseases, Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D001017:Aortic Coarctation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055424:Cardiac-Gated Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003287:Contrast Media; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media