Radiation Concern in MDCT Coronary Angiography

Review article in Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology Volume 56, Issue 1, pages 5–17, February 2012 entitled  A systematic review of radiation dose associated with different generations of multidetector CT coronary angiography, discusses radiation conerns in coronary CT.

Key points indicated by the review are:

• Radiation dose has risen from early-generation scanners of four-slice to 16- and 64-slice CT and will continue to do so if no dose-saving strategies are applied. This includes the highly effective strategy of ECG-controlled tube current modulation and very effective strategy of prospective ECG gating, which result in a significant reduction of radiation dose.
• Despite promising results of coronary CT angiography, coronary CTA suffers from the disadvantage of high radiation dose, and associated high radiation risks.Brenner and Hall1 estimated that approximately between 1.5 and 2% of all cancers in the United States may be caused by radiation exposure from CT examinations. Thus, protecting young and female patients from high radiation doses is very important. 
• Also review showed, effective radiation dose was estimated in female significantly higher than in male patients due to the different size thickness on the chest region. However, the breast tissue is radiosensitive, and keeping the radiation dose to the breast at the minimum level is paramount.