COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY PULMONARY ANGIOGRAPHY (CTPA) USING OPTIMIZED SCAN PROTOCOL – A REVIEW

Sudhakar P, Lokeshkumar T, Armel Arputha Sivarajan A

Abstract


Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the third most common cause of death in cardiovascular related mortality. CT pulmonary angiography is the diagnostic imaging of choice in PE. However the recent advancement in MDCT has resulted in use of reduced contrast medium (CM) volume when compared to its standard volume. The aim was to undertake a review about the image quality in CTPA using altered scan protocol, especially by using low volume contrast medium. A literature search was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar up to January 2020 with the following key words “CT pulmonary angiography using low volume contrast medium”, “CTPA with altered scan protocol”, “CTPA using low kVp and low volume of contrast medium”. A total of 17 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Based on the results of study, it can be concluded that due to the recent advancement in MDCT, use of low or reduced volume of contrast medium and with a few required adequate modifications in the scan protocol it was possible to achieve the required diagnostic standard enhancement in the pulmonary arteries and thus were able to get an adequate diagnostic image quality in CTPA.


Keywords


Pulmonary embolism, CT pulmonary angiography, low volume contrast medium, image quality.

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References


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