Seventy-two emergency department patients with non-specific chest pain were referred for MDCT of the whole chest. A total of 41 patients were scanned using retrospective gating and 31 were scanned using prospective triggering. "The average radiation dose delivered with retrospective gating was approximately 32 mSv; the average radiation dose delivered with prospective triggering was 9 mSv," said William P. Shuman, MD, lead author of the study. In addition, image quality was slightly better with prospective triggering.
"As our study suggests, patients benefit from MDCT scans using ECG triggering because it delivers a much lower radiation dose-opening the utility of CT to more patients. This lower dose is particularly useful when non-specific indications suggest scanning of the whole chest, such as in the "triple rule-out." Emergency rooms face severe congestion and cost constraints in today's world, plus a need for accurate, swift diagnosis. Lower dose, high image quality ECG triggered CT will help significantly on all of those fronts," said Dr. Shuman.