title: Survey of Thoracic CT Protocols and Technical Parameters in Korean Hospitals: Changes before and after Establishment of Thoracic CT Guideline by Korean Society of Thoracic Radiology in 2008.
abstract: We retrospectively reviewed the thoracic CT scan protocols and technical parameters obtained from hospitals in Korea, one group during May 2007 (n = 100) and the other group during January 2012 (n = 173), before and after the establishment of the thoracic CT Guideline in 2008. Each group was also divided into two subgroups according to the health care delivery level, i.e. the "A" subgroup from primary and the "B" subgroup from secondary and tertiary care hospitals. When comparing the data from 2007 and 2012, the tube current decreased from 179.1 mAs to 137.2 mAs. The scan interval decreased from 6.4 mm to 4.8 mm. Also, the insufficient scan range decreased from 19.0% to 8.7%, and the suboptimal quality scans decreased from 33.0% to 5.2%. Between groups A and B, group B had lower tube voltages, smaller scan thicknesses, and smaller scan intervals. However, group B had more phase numbers. In terms of the suboptimal quality scans, a decrease was seen in both groups. In conclusion, during the five-year time period between 2007 and 2012, a reduction in the tube current values was seen. And the overall image quality improved over the same time period. We assume that these changes are attributed to the implementation of the thoracic CT guideline in 2008.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Ji-Won
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1357-0339
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Kyung-Hyun
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1922-4680
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Do
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Kichang
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9701-9757
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Eun-Jin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5299-0048
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Dong-Hyun
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5477-558X
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Choong-Wook
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8776-2603
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012958:Societies, Scientific; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000295:instrumentation
keywords: CT Guideline; Image Quality; Radiation Dose; Thoracic CT