Personalization of injection protocols to the individual patient's blood volume and automated tube voltage selection

The aim was to assess personalised contrast media (CM) protocols-based on patient's blood volume (BV) and automated tube voltage selection (ATVS)-in coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). A total of 114 consecutive patients received an ECG-triggered or ECG-gated helical scan on a 3.su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2018-09, Vol.13 (9), p.e0203682
Main Authors: Eijsvoogel, Nienke G, Hendriks, Babs M. F, Willigers, Jef L, Martens, Bibi, Carati, Luc F, Horehledova, Barbora, Kietselaer, Bastiaan L. J. H, Crijns, Harry J. G. M, Wildberger, Joachim E, Das, Marco
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CAT scans
Diagnosis
Heart diseases
Medical tests
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Summary:The aim was to assess personalised contrast media (CM) protocols-based on patient's blood volume (BV) and automated tube voltage selection (ATVS)-in coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). A total of 114 consecutive patients received an ECG-triggered or ECG-gated helical scan on a 3.sup.rd -generation dual-source CT with 70-120kV (ATVS) and 330mAs.sub.qual.ref . CM was adapted to BV, scan time (s) and kV. Image quality (IQ) was assessed in a 17-segment coronary model using attenuation values (HU), contrast-to-noise (CNR), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) (objective IQ) and a Likert scale (subjective IQ: 1 = poor/2 = sufficient/3 = good/4 = excellent). ig Patient distribution was: n = 60 for 70kV, n = 37 80kV and n = 17 90kV. Mean BV was 5.4±0.6L for men and 4.1±0.6L for women. Mean CM volume (300 mg I/mL) and flow rate were: 30.9±6.4mL and 3.3±0.5mL/s (70kV); 40.8±7.1mL and 4.5±0.6mL/s (80kV); 53.6±8.6mL and 5.7±0.6mL/s (90kV). Overall mean HU was >300HU in 98.2% (112/114) of patients. Overall mean attenuation was below 300HU in two scans (70kV) due to late scan timing. Of 1.661 segments, 95.4% was assessable. Mean CNR was 14±4(70kV), 13±3(80kV) and 14±4(90kV); mean SNR was 10±2(both 70kV+80kV) and 9±2(90kV). Objective IQ was comparable between kV settings, protocols and sex. Subjective IQ was diagnostic in all scans and excellent-sufficient in 95.4% of segments. Personalisation of CCTA CM injection protocols to BV and ATVS is a promising technique to tailor CM administration to the individual patient, while maintaining diagnostic IQ.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0203682