LOW-DOSE LIVER AND PANCREAS MSCT: RESULTS OF PRACTICAL APPLICABILITY

Aznaurov V.G., Kondratiev E.V., Karmazanovsky G.G.

Purpose. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibilities of low-tube voltage MDCT in visualization of liver and pancreatic tumors. Materials and methods. 75 patients were enrolled in study and divided into 3 groups. All studies were performed with intravenous administration of a contrast media. Three scan-ning protocols were used, differing by the voltage on the X-ray tube - standard 120 kV - 90 ml CM, the modified 100 kV – 90 ml CM and low-iodine load protocol – 100 kV – 65 ml CM. The data – a noise, a circumference of abdominal cavity, a relation "contrast-noise", data of CT-numbers of organs were evaluated. The tomograms were reconstructed using standard and iterative reconstruction algorithms. A qualitative assessment of the images was carried out according to 2 parameters - the evaluation of the whole image and the visualization of tumor on a 3-point scale. Results and discussion. Radiation exposure decreased by 32,2% and 36,7%, using the modified protocols “100 kV – 90 CM” and “100 kV – 65 CM”, respectively. The noise level did not differ with the use of standard reconstruction, but it decreased markedly using itera-tive reconstruction. The contrast-to-noise ratio turned out to be higher in the "100 kV – 90 CM" group and consistently increased with increasing levels of iterative reconstruction. Evaluations of the visualization of tumors were significantly higher in the "100 kV – 90 CM" group. Using low-iodine load protocol “100 kV – 65 CM” demonstrated results similar to “120 kV – 90 CM” protocol. Conclusions. The use of low-tube voltage MDCT improves visualization of the liver and pancreas hypo- and hypervascular tumors, in addition, it allows to reduce the radiation exposure.

A.V. Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery, Ministry of Health. Moscow, Russia.


 

Keywords: MSCT, contrast enhancement, radiation exposure, low voltage, low-dose protocol, hypervas-cular tumor.

 

Corresponding author: Aznaurov V.G., e-mail: Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript

 

For citation: Aznaurov V.G., Kondratiev E.V., Karmazanovsky G.G. Low-dose liver and pancreas msct: results of practical applicability. REJR 2018; 8 (2):79-93. DOI:10.21569/2222-7415-2018-8-2-79-93.

Received: 28.01.2018 Accepted: 16.03.2018