Clinical trial NCT01111760: Radiation Dose From Computed Tomography Before and After Implementation of a High Pitch Dual Spiral Technique
Official title: Radiation Dose From Computed Tomography Before and After Implementation of a High Pitch Dual Spiral Technique
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Atherosclerosis of Coronary Artery
Cardiovascular Disease
Pulmonary Embolism
Aortic Aneurysm Without Mention of Rupture Nos
Keywords: cardiovascular disease
heart CT scan
CT scan
pulmonary embolisms
aortography
Lead sponsor: William Beaumont Hospitals
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2010-04-28
Enrollment: 334
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: CASE_ONLY
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: any patient receiving a coronary CT scan and a chest CT for pulmonary embolisms, pulmonary nodules, aortic pathologies

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to compare the radiation exposure of a variety of chest CT examinations performed on the current state of the art CT scanners (64 slice, dual source CT scanner) with the radiation exposure for identical chest CT examinations performed on the Siemens Flash CT scanner (high pitch dual source spiral technique).

Detailed description: Computed tomography has emerged as the "gold standard" for the diagnosis of a broad range of medical diagnoses. For cardiac imaging alone, the installation of CT scanners in US cardiology practices alone has tripled over the past 2 years. Patients who undergo cardiac CTA (computed tomography angiography) may be subjected to relatively high doses of ionizing radiation (ie. 4 times annual background radiation) during the diagnosis and management of coronary artery disease. Current radiation doses for cardiac CT examinations are comparable to the effective doses for patients undergoing nuclear stress tests or cardiac catheterization (ie. approximately 10-15 milliSieverts). In addition, non cardiac CT protocols, such as chest CT examinations for the evaluation of pulmonary arteries, thoracic and abdominal aorta, and lung nodules, are associated with significant radiation exposure. Many patients undergo repeated CT examinations over several years for such pathology. There is a growing public concern regarding the cancer risk associated with such radiation.

Recent major technological advances have been made with the advent of newer generation CT scanners which allow significant radiation dose reduction. One such scanner, the dual source CT, is a new high pitch dual source spiral technique that offers the ability to image a patient's chest with ECG gated imaging protocols within a single second. These technological advances allow significant radiation dose savings, often resulting in effective radiation doses of less than one millisievert (mSv).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* All patients who undergo chest CT examinations (including cardiac CTA, and non cardiac CT examinations including pulmonary embolism, lung nodule and aortic pathology protocols)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Comparison of the radiation dose for chest CT examinations using current technology with radiation dose exposure using the newest generation CT scanner.
timeFrame: Time of CT scan
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Royal Oak
country: United States
facility: William Beaumont Hospital-Royal Oak
state: Michigan
Study officials:
affiliation: William Beaumont Hospitals
name: Michael Gallagher, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: William Beaumont Hospitals
name: Gilbert Raff, MD
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References: