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. 2019 Mar 13;9(1):4374.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-40758-5.

A comparison study of radiation effective dose in ECG-Gated Coronary CT Angiography and calcium scoring examinations performed with a dual-source CT scanner

Akmal Sabarudin  1 , Tiong Wei Siong  1 , Ang Wee Chin  2 , Ng Kwan Hoong  3 , Muhammad Khalis Abdul Karim  4   5
Affiliations

A comparison study of radiation effective dose in ECG-Gated Coronary CT Angiography and calcium scoring examinations performed with a dual-source CT scanner

Akmal Sabarudin et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

In this report we have evaluated radiation effective dose received by patients during ECG-gated CCTA examinations based on gender, heart rate, tube voltage protocol and body mass index (BMI). A total of 1,824 patients were retrospectively recruited (1,139 men and 685 women) and they were divided into Group 1 (CCTA with calcium scoring), Group 2 (CCTA without calcium scoring) and Group 3 (only calcium scoring), where the association between gender, heart rate, tube voltage protocol and body mass index (BMI) were analysed. Examinations were performed using a retrospective ECG-gated CCTA protocol and the effective doses were calculated from the dose length product with a conversion coefficient of 0.026 mSv.mGy-1cm-1. No significant differences were observed in the mean effective dose between gender in all groups. The mean estimated dose was significantly higher when the heart rate was lower in Group 1 (p < 0.001) and Group 2 (p = 0.002). There were also significant differences between the mean effective dose in tube voltage protocol and BMI among the three groups. The mean effective dose was positively correlated with BMI (p < 0.001), but inversely related to the heart rate. This study supported the theory that a high heart rate, low tube voltage and low BMI could significantly reduce radiation dose exposure.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of gender in each examination group. The groups are divided into Group 1: CCTA with calcium score, Group 2: CCTA only, and Group 3: calcium score only.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Boxplots indicating the heart rate of patients in each group.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effective dose received by each group.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The graph shows correlation analysis of the estimated effective dose depending on BMI. Positive correlation was shown in all three groups (Group 1, r = 0.610; Group 2, r = 0.516; and, Group 3, r = 0.551).
Figure 5
Figure 5
The graph shows the correlation analysis of the estimated effective dose depending on heart rate. Weak negative correlation was shown in all three groups (Group 1, r = −0.132; Group 2, r = −0.158; and, Group 3, r = −0.195).
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References

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