title: High pitch CT in triple rule-out studies: Radiation dose and image quality compared to multidetector CT.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the image quality and radiation dose from high pitch dual source CT (128-DSCT) versus those from retrospective acquisition with 64-row multidetector CT (64-MDCT) in triple rule-out studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively studied 60 patients with acute chest pain: 30 with a retrospective EKG acquisition with 64-MDCT and 30 with high pitch 128-DSCT. We quantitatively analyzed the image quality by calculating the vascular density, muscular density (DM), noise, vascular density/noise ratio (VDNR), and contrast/noise ratio (CNR). We qualitatively evaluated the artifacts in the vena cava, aorta, and coronary arteries. We estimated the effective dose (ED) of radiation by means of the dose-length product.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences between 128-DSCT and 64-MDCT in the vascular density. The VDNR and CNR were higher on 128-DSCT than on 64-MDCT in the aorta (VDNR: 28.9 ± 11.7 vs. 20 ± 5.5; CNR: 24.4 ± 10.9 vs. 16.8 ± 5.4; P<.01), in the pulmonary arteries (VDNR: 25.5 ± 10 vs. 20.6 ± 6.5; CNR: 24.5 ± 5.4 vs. 17.4 ± 6.4; P<.01), and in the coronary arteries (VDNR: 25.9 ± 8.2 vs. 18.9 ± 4.9; CNR: 24.9 ± 8.2 vs. 15.6 ± 4.6; P<.01). There were fewer artifacts in the coronary arteries on 128-DSCT than on 64-MDCT (3 vs. 34 nondiagnostic segments; P<.001), and the ED in 128-DSCT was lower than in 64-MDCT (13.77 ± 4 vs. 2.77 ± 0.6 mSv; P<.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In triple rule-out studies, high pitch 128-DSCT delivers a lower dose of radiation and provides better image quality than retrospective acquisition with 64-MDCT.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Radiodiagnóstico, Hospital POVISA, Vigo, España. Electronic address: anafdelvalle84@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández del Valle
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Radiodiagnóstico, Hospital POVISA, Vigo, España.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delgado Sánchez-Gracián
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Radiodiagnóstico, Hospital POVISA, Vigo, España.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oca Pernas
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Radiodiagnóstico, Hospital POVISA, Vigo, España.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grande Astorquiza
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Radiodiagnóstico, Hospital POVISA, Vigo, España.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bustos Fiore
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Radiodiagnóstico, Hospital POVISA, Vigo, España.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trinidad López
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Radiodiagnóstico, Hospital POVISA, Vigo, España.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tardáguila de la Fuente
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Chest pain; Computed tomography; Dolor torácico; Dosis de radiación; Radiation dose; Tomografía computarizada