%0 Journal Article
%T Evaluation of reduced
%A Ahmed E Othman
%A Christoph Schabel
%A Dominik Zinsser
%A Fabian Bamberg
%A Julian L Wichmann
%A Konstantin Nikolaou
%A Malte Niklas Bongers
%A Mike Notohamiprodjo
%A Rami Arshid
%J Acta Radiologica
%@ 1600-0455
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0284185117703152
%X Patients with acute non-traumatic abdominal pain often undergo abdominal computed tomography (CT). However, abdominal CT is associated with high radiation exposure. To evaluate diagnostic performance of a reduced-dose 100£¿kVp CT protocol with advanced modeled iterative reconstruction as compared to a linearly blended 120£¿kVp protocol for assessment of acute, non-traumatic abdominal pain. Two radiologists assessed 100£¿kVp and linearly blended 120£¿kVp series of 112 consecutive patients with acute non-traumatic pain (onset£¿<£¿48£¿h) regarding image quality, noise, and artifacts on a five-point Likert scale. Both radiologists assessed both series for abdominal pathologies and for diagnostic confidence. Both 100£¿kVp and linearly blended 120£¿kVp series were quantitatively evaluated regarding radiation dose and image noise. Comparative statistics and diagnostic accuracy was calculated using receiver operating curve (ROC) statistics, with final clinical diagnosis/clinical follow-up as reference standard. Image quality was high for both series without detectable significant differences (P£¿=£¿0.157). Image noise and artifacts were rated low for both series but significantly higher for 100£¿kVp (P£¿¡Ü£¿0.021). Diagnostic accuracy was high for both series (120£¿kVp: area under the curve [AUC]£¿=£¿0.950, sensitivity£¿=£¿0.958, specificity£¿=£¿0.941; 100£¿kVp: AUC£¿¡Ý£¿0.910, sensitivity£¿¡Ý£¿0.937, specificity£¿=£¿0.882; P£¿¡Ý£¿0.516) with almost perfect inter-rater agreement (Kappa£¿=£¿0.939). Diagnostic confidence was high for both dose levels without significant differences (100£¿kVp 5, range 4¨C5; 120£¿kVp 5, range 3¨C5; P£¿=£¿0.134). The 100£¿kVp series yielded 26.1% lower radiation dose compared with the 120£¿kVp series (5.72£¿¡À£¿2.23£¿mSv versus 7.75£¿¡À£¿3.02£¿mSv, P£¿<£¿0.001). Image noise was significantly higher in reduced-dose CT (13.3£¿¡À£¿2.4 HU versus 10.6£¿¡À£¿2.1 HU; P£¿<£¿0.001). Reduced-dose abdominal CT using 100£¿kVp yields excellent image quality and high diagnostic accuracy for the assessment of acute non-traumatic abdominal pain
%K Low-dose CT
%K radiation dose
%K computed tomography (CT)
%K acute abdominal pain
%K diagnostic accuracy
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0284185117703152