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Current Medical Imaging

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1573-4056
ISSN (Online): 1875-6603

General Research Article

Reduced-Dose Full-Body CT in Lymphoma Follow-up: A Pilot Study

Author(s): Renjun Huang, Jiulong Yan, Hongzhi Geng, Qiuyu Yu, Zongqiong Sun, Wenyan Liu, Ling Zhang*, Caixia Li* and Yonggang Li*

Volume 19, Issue 1, 2023

Published on: 27 July, 2022

Article ID: e160522204839 Pages: 14

DOI: 10.2174/1573405618666220516123155

Price: $65

Abstract

Background: How to reduce the radiation dose received from full-body CT scans during the follow-up of lymphoma patients is a concern.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the image quality and radiation dose of reduced-dose full-body computerized tomography (CT) in lymphoma patients during the follow-up.

Methods: 121 patients were included and divided into conventional CT group (group 1, 120-kVp, n = 61) or reduced-dose CT group (group 2, 100-kVp combined dual-energy CT (DECT), n = 60). 140-kVp polychromatic images and 70-keV monochromatic images were reconstructed from DECT. The abdominal virtual non-enhanced (VNE) images were reconstructed from monochromatic images. Two radiologists rated the overall image quality with a five-point scale and graded the depiction of lesions using a four-point scale. The objective image quality was evaluated using image noise, signal-to-noise ratio, and contrast-to-noise ratio. The radiation dose and image quality were compared between the groups.

Results: The comparable subjective image quality was observed between 70-keV and 120-kVp images in the neck, while 120-kVp images showed better objective image quality. 70-keV images showed better objective image quality in the chest. While the subjective image quality of abdominal VNE images was inferior to that of true non-enhanced images, the improved objective image quality was observed in VNE images. In the abdominal arterial phase, similar subjective image quality was observed between the groups. Abdominal 70-keV images in the arterial phase showed improved objective image quality. Similar image quality was obtained in the abdominal venous phase between the groups. The effective radiation dose in group 2 showed a significant reduction.

Conclusion: The application of reduced-dose full-body CT can significantly reduce the radiation dose for lymphoma patients during the follow-up while maintaining or improving the image quality.

Keywords: Tomography, X-ray computed, dual-energy, lymphoma, radiation dose, image quality.

Graphical Abstract
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