Abstract:
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Purpose: We are in process of initial clinical evaluation of 16-slice Multidetector CT (MDCT) in pediatric patients. Our aim was to assess advantages of 16-slice MDCT in pediatric imaging including shortening of the sedation time in infants and small children during various CT studies.
Methods and Materials: Between May 2002 and March 2003, 254 children aged 1 day to 13 years (mean 4.5 years) underwent CT scans (Mx8000IDT, Philips) for a variety of clinical indications. This scanner operates at an increased rotation time (0.42 sec), and produce up to 16 slices per rotation, thus improving temporal and spatial resolution. We performed 129 brain, 71 body, 25 head and neck and 12 musculoskeletal MDCT studies. In addition we performed 5 CT angiographies, 10 virtual bronchoscopies and 2 virtual colonoscopies. Sedation time required for these studies was recorded and compared to routine sedation time used for 4-slice MDCT scanner (Mx8000, Philips). We used optimized scan parameters and reduced the mAs by 15 to 20 % compared to those used for 4-slice scanner.
Results: There were no failed examinations. Calculated patient dose was reduced by at least 15-20% for the same slice width reconstructions. We used very short sedation mainly for infants. In most of the small children sedation was unnecessary. A volume of bolus injections was reduced to about 50% of that for 4-slice MDCT. There were no motion artifacts, and image quality was therefore consistently good, including some non-sedated, uncooperative patients due to the markedly reduced scan length (2.6 seconds for chest CT and only 20 seconds for total body CTA).
Conclusion: A 16-slice MDCT provides high image quality in pediatric population. It is dose saving. Most studies were performed without any sedation even in small children. Infants may require very short sedation during the scanning without any compromise with image quality. Motion artifacts are avoided in most cases. Isotropic images allow a comprehensive post-processing for each study that has an added value in pediatric patients.
Questions about this event email: peled_natan@clalit.org.il
Peled MD, N,
Initial Clinical Experience with 16-slice Multidetector CT (MDCT) in Routine Pediatric Imaging. Radiological Society of North America 2003 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 30 - December 5, 2003 ,Chicago IL.
http://archive.rsna.org/2003/3106148.html
