Low-dose computed tomography of the paranasal sinus and facial skull using a high-pitch dual-source system—First clinical results

by B. Schell, RW Bauer, T. Lehnert  et al.  

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Abstract

Objective Computed tomography (CT) of the paranasal sinus is the standard diagnostic tool for a wide range of indications in mostly younger patients. This study aims to assess the image quality of CT of the sinus by using a highpitch dual-source technique  with special regard to the radiation dose.
Methods Examinations were performed on a second-generation dualsource CT with a pitch factor of 3.0 (dual-source mode). Images were compared with those with a pitch factor of 0.9 on the same system (single-source mode) and with those of 16-slice CT. Image quality was evaluated by four blinded readers using a 5-point scale (1=poor, 5=excellent). Comparison of the dose length product (DLP) was used to estimate radiation exposure.
Results Seventy-three consecutive patients underwent imaging with the proposed CT protocols. The viewers rated the image quality of the dual-source image sets as nearly as good (3.62) as the single-source images on the same device (4.18) and those on 16-slice CT (3.7). DLP was cut to half of the dose [51mGycm vs. 97.8mGycm vs. 116.9mGycm (p<0.01)].
Conclusions Using the proposed dual-source mode when examining the paranasal sinus, diagnostic image quality can be achieved while drastically lowering the patient's radiation exposure. 

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