Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Submillisievert CT chest for COVID-19 patients in a rural hospital with limited resources |
| Authors: |
Sammy Tawk, Wissam Mansour, Dayana Sleiman, Setrida Gemayel, Edgard Lozom, Karl El Mendelek, Nicole Saliba, Charbel Mourad |
| Source: |
The Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Vol 53, Iss 1, Pp 1-6 (2022) |
| Publisher Information: |
SpringerOpen, 2022. |
| Publication Year: |
2022 |
| Collection: |
LCC:Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine |
| Subject Terms: |
COVID-19, Chest CT, Ultra-low dose CT scan, As low as reasonably achievable (ALARA), Submillisievert, Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine, R895-920 |
| More Details: |
Abstract Background This is a secondary analysis of prospectively acquired data approved by the hospital institutional board committee. We performed a retrospective chart review of 463 patients who underwent a CT Chest for suspected COVID-19 infection between April 1st, 2020, and March 31st, 2021. Patients were grouped based on the CT chest obtained protocol: ultra-low dose or full dose. The likelihood of suspicion of COVID-19 infection was classified on a Likert scale based on the probability of pulmonary involvement. For each group, the sensitivity and specificity of CT were compared to nasopharyngeal swab as standard of reference. The median dose length product and duration of apnea were compared between both groups using two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test. The aim of this study is to share our experience of reducing radiation dose in COVID-19 patients by using an ultra-low dose CT chest protocol on a 16 row multidetector CT scan in a hospital with limited resources. Results Two hundred sixty-nine patients underwent a full dose CT and 194 patients an ultra-low dose CT. In the former group, the median dose length product was 341.11 mGy*cm [Interquartile range (IQR), 239.1–443.2] and the median duration of apnea was 13.29 s [IQR, 10.85–15.73]. In the latter group, the median dose length product was 30.8 mGy*cm [IQR, 28.9–32.7] and median duration of apnea was 8.27 s [IQR, 7.69–8.85]. The sensitivity of the ultra-low dose CT was 91.2% and that of the full dose was 94%. Conclusion A 90% reduction in estimated dose and 38% reduction in apnea duration could be achieved using an ultra-low dose CT chest protocol on a 16-row MDCT without significant loss in the sensitivity of CT to detect COVID-related parenchymal involvement. |
| Document Type: |
article |
| File Description: |
electronic resource |
| Language: |
English |
| ISSN: |
2090-4762 |
| Relation: |
https://doaj.org/toc/2090-4762 |
| DOI: |
10.1186/s43055-022-00737-9 |
| Access URL: |
https://doaj.org/article/505872c79b87462b92ef5c1be9742f3a |
| Accession Number: |
edsdoj.505872c79b87462b92ef5c1be9742f3a |
| Database: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
