Focused on assessing the effectiveness and utility of a low-contrast-volume CCTA protocol, using lower kV peak (at 80kVp) compared to the conventional protocol (at 120kVp), Dr.Tuy et al’s research demonstrated the clinical application testing on a total of 120 patients (60M, 60 F, ages between 23 and 86 years), who have BMIs up to 25kg/m2 and heart rates of less than 120 beats/min within the period from Apr 2021 to Apr 2023. Patients was equally distributed into 2 groups (Group A – 80kV scanning and Group B – Conventional 120kV scanning) and undergone screening on Siemens Healthineers’ SOMATOM Drive CT, which is equipped with CareDose 4D and ADMIRE. The captured images then went through syngo.via for analyzed and reviewed.
Courtesy: Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City
Observed results shown positive impact for patient. In term of dose and contrast media, patients in group A received a significantly reduced effective radiation dose of 2.6±0.6mSv compared with 7.4±2.6mSv in group B (P<0.001). Additionally, due to the lower injection flow rate used in group A (3.5-4 mL/s) vs group B (5-5.5 mL/s), a significantly lower total volume of contrast agent was administered to group A compared with group B. On average, patients in group A received 50.2±4.8mL of contrast agent equaling 17.4±1.8g Iodine whereas those in group B received 72.8±2.7mL of contrast agent, which is equivalent to 25.2±1.1g Iodine.
To conclude the research, Dr. Tuy proudly expressed “highlight of this finding is scanning coronary CTA with a low regime at 80 kV will reduce an average of 2.75-fold in radiation dose and also of 1.5-fold in contrast volume. The reduction of contrast volume can cut the cost of the contrast agent as well as the chance of contrast-induced nephropathy. Thanks to this latest breakthrough finding in coronary CTA research in Vietnam, countless lasting benefits to improve patient outcomes can be shown in further implementations: immediate safe rescanning due to image poor quality and health concerns mitigation on patients with impaired kidney function as well as patients undergoing scanning multiple body parts in one examination.”
The research of Dr. Tuy had been presented at the 24th Annual Congress of the Vietnamese Society of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine (2023) and published on the Vietnamese Journal of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine last December 2023.