title: Diagnostic quality of CT pulmonary angiography in pulmonary thromboembolism: a comparison of three different kV values.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of different kilovolt (kV) uses in computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) in the diagnosis of pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE). We also aimed to establish the optimal kV value and investigate the possibility of obtaining appropriate imaging quality with minimal radiation dose.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared 120, 100, and 80 kV CTPA for 90 patients in whom PTE was clinically considered. The examinations were carried out using a 128 multislice CT device (Definition AS, Siemens Medical Solutions, Forchheim, Germany). Each kV value was used on 30 patients in 3 groups. Patients in all groups were compared with respect to the mean radiation dose they received, pulmonary arterial attenuation values, image quality, and motion artefacts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With respect to pulmonary arterial attenuation values, imaging with 80 kV yielded significantly higher values (p<0.05). However, no difference was found between 120 kV, 100 kV, and 80 kV with respect to image quality. Similarly, no significant difference was detected between the groups with respect to pulmonary artery contrasting and motion artefacts. Statistically significant differences were present in DLP values and effective dose among all 3 groups (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using 80 kV as the low value in CTPA imaging for patients pre-diagnosed with PTE will increase the density of pulmonary arteries and decrease the amount of radiation received.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ömer
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Yılmaz
authors.forename: Esma Dilek
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Üstün
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kayan
authors.forename: Fatmanur
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kayan
authors.forename: Aykut Recep
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Aktaş
authors.forename: Elif Nisa
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Unlü
authors.forename: Bumin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Değirmenci
authors.forename: Meltem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cetin
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*