Radiation dose and attributed cancer risk associated with 256-Slice CT coronary angiography

The advancement of X-ray computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) has facilitated the acquisition of dynamic CTCA images within a single cardiac cycle, achieving a very low radiation dose while maintaining acceptable image quality. This study aimed to evaluate the radiation dose and cancer risk in patients who underwent computed tomography coronary angiography ( CTCA). The radiation data and related parameters were analyzed in 232 patients who underwent CTCA at a single hospital. Dose data were retrospectively extracted from the hospital information system using the DoseWatch software. The effective dose (E) values were determined using CT-expo 2.5 software, while the Lifetime Attributable Risk (LAR) was estimated using sex- and age-specific risk coefficients provided by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The reported doses in CTCA were as follows: median (interquartile range) CT dose-length product (DLP) and volume CT dose index (CTDI vol ), which were 268 mGy cm (100–492) and 2.92 mGy (1.57–20.01), respectively, while the E was 5.21 mSv (2.16–10.7). The LAR values (per 10 6 ) ranged between 58–426 and 260–1025 for male and female patients, respectively. The CTCA doses obtained using a 256-row scanner with dual-energy technology were comparable to the previously reported values, demonstrating significantly improved dose performance through the incorporation of dose reduction features of modern CT scanners. However, risk-benefit analyses should be conducted before CTCA examinations, particularly for young female patients, to mitigate the associated cancer risk.