Background:
Since December 2019, COVID-19 infection has been reported from wuhan, China. Although chest radiograph is the first imaging of choice in many cases, lung CT is suggested as the subsequent study in some situations, and the CT scanners in many hospitals are busy 24/7 taking images of patients with respiratory syndromes. This has alarmed the radiologists about high doses of radiation. This study compared the image quality of low-dose chest CT examinations with routine chest CT images.
Methods:
All subsequent patients referred for chest CT in 4 weeks were enrolled in this study. Chest CT scans performed within the first two weeks of study were taken using the routine standard-dose protocol. The scans were performed in the next two weeks using the low dose protocol. Subjective image quality and objective parameters of the CT images were evaluated.
Results:
A total of 196 patients were evaluated. Ninety-six patients were scanned using NDCT, and 100 patients were examined using LDCT. The patient’s dose was significantly reduced in the LDCT group (P: 0.000). both radiologists reported most images as having no artifacts or with mild artifacts. There was no significant difference in the subjective quality of images between the two protocols. There was no significant difference between the CNR and SNR in the two protocols.
Conclusion:
Low dose chest CT applied in patients with acute respiratory syndrome significantly reduced radiation dose while providing acceptable image quality and diagnostic certainty.