Radiation Protection of Patients Undergoing Cardiac Computed Tomographic Angiography
- Andrew J. Einstein, MD, PhD
- Author Affiliations: Department of Medicine, Cardiology Division, and Department of Radiology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York.
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY
- DIAGNOSIS
- OUTCOME ASSESSMENT (HEALTH CARE)
- PATIENT SAFETY
- RADIATION EFFECTS
- RADIATION DOSAGE
- TOMOGRAPHY, X-RAY COMPUTED
Interest in the use of computed tomography (CT) for cardiac evaluation has increased rapidly since the introduction of 64-slice scanners. Reflecting this, the installation base of CT scanners in US cardiology practices has tripled in the past 2 years.1 Reports of the high diagnostic performance of coronary CT angiography (CTA), and especially its high negative predictive value in populations with low-to-intermediate prevalence of coronary disease,2,3 have been tempered by a concern about its high radiation dose to patients and the attendant risk of cancer.4
Despite a number of single-center studies that have reported a wide range of effective doses for coronary CTA,5 the existing literature does not adequately answer the questions of what radiation doses patients actually receive in clinical practice, and what factors are associated with higher radiation dose. Such information should help practitioners develop protocols that are in accordance with the goal …
