Tatsugami Fuminari, Matsuki Mitsuru, Nakai Go, Inada Yuki, Kanazawa Shuji, Takeda Yoshihiro, Morita Hideaki, Takada Haruhiko, Yoshikawa Shushi, Fukumura Katsunori, Narumi Yoshifumi
Department of Radiology, Osaka Medical College, Takatsuki City, Osaka, Japan.
J Comput Assist Tomogr. 2011 Jul-Aug;35(4):475-9. doi: 10.1097/RCT.0b013e31821f4e00.
Because an increase in patient body size produces lower vessel attenuation and higher image noise in computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA), a protocol in which the dose of contrast material was adapted to the body weight, and tube voltage and current were adapted to the body mass index (BMI) was evaluated.
A total of 136 patients who underwent CTCA were assigned to 1 of 2 protocols; the patients received 40 mL of contrast material (A; n = 52), or 0.7 mL/kg of contrast material (B; n = 84). Tube voltage and current were adapted to the BMI.
In group A, there was no significant correlation between BMI and image noise (r = -0.21, P = 0.15). However, BMI correlated inversely with contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR; right coronary artery, r = -0.29, P < 0.05; left main coronary artery, r = -0.33, P < 0.05) and image quality score (r = -0.55, P < 0.001). In group B, there was no significant correlation between BMI and image noise (r = -0.14, P = 0.21), CNR (right coronary artery: r = -0.09, P = 0.45; left main coronary artery: r = -0.07, P = 0.55), and image quality score (r = 0.03, P = 0.79).
Use of a body size-adapted dose of contrast material and scanning protocol results in similar CNR and image quality independent of individual BMI.
