Routine chest and abdominal high-pitch CT: an alternative low dose protocol with preserved image quality.

Abstract Objective To investigate the radiation dose and image quality of the high-pitch dual source computer tomography (DSCT) for routine chest and abdominal scans. Methods 130 consecutive patients (62 female, 68 male, median age 55 years) were included. All patients underwent 128-slice high-pitch DSCT (chest n  = 99; abdomen n  = 84) at a pitch of 3.2. Two observers independently rated image quality using a 4-point score (1: excellent to 4: non-diagnostic). Image noise was measured and operational radiation dose quantities were recorded. An additional group of 132 patients (chest, n  = 80; abdomen n  = 52) scanned with standard-pitch CT matched for age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) served as control group. Results Interobserver agreement for image quality rating was good ( k  = 0.74). Subjective image quality of high-pitch CT was diagnostic in all patients (median score chest; 2, median score abdomen: 2). Image noise of high-pitch CT was comparable to standard-pitch for the chest ( p  = 0.32) but increased in the abdomen ( p Conclusion Based on the technical background high-pitch dual source CT may serve as an alternative scan mode for low radiation dose routine chest and abdominal CT.