Cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is an accurate method for diagnosing coronary artery disease, but the dose of radiation associated with this imaging procedure remains a concern. A promising study published in the June 10, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that the radiation dose of CCTA can be reduced without sacrificing image quality.

Researchers from William Beaumont Hospital in Michigan and their colleagues performed a prospective, controlled, non-randomized study at 15 hospital imaging centers in Michigan to determine whether a radiation dose-reduction program would be associated with a reduced radiation dose in patients undergoing CCTA. Using data from 4,862 patients, the researchers found that radiation dose was reduced by 53.3% after the radiation-dose reduction intervention. In addition, they found that there were no significant changes in image quality assessment or frequency of diagnostic-quality scans after implementation of radiation dose-reduction techniques.

This study was conducted at both small community hospitals and large academic medical centers, suggesting that radiation dose-reduction programs can be successfully implemented in different types of healthcare environments. If the findings of this study could be replicated on a wide scale, patients undergoing CCTA for evaluation of coronary artery disease would be exposed to less radiation, reducing the risk associated with the procedure.

Source:

JAMA. 2009;301(22):2340-2348.