"ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF OPTIMIZED CONTRAST AGENT USAGE IN CT SCANNING"

Abstract

Background: To assess individually optimized protocol of contrast medium injection in enhanced CT scan for liver imaging.Materials & methods: 50 patients who underwent liver CT scan were included in the present study.Random division of all the patients was done into two study groups as follows:Group A and group B (25 patients in each group).All the patients were scanned using CT machine.All patients underwent both unenhanced and enhanced CT scans during hepatic arterial phase (HAP) and portal venous phase (PVP).All the enhanced CT scans during HAP and PVP started at thirty-five seconds and sixty-five seconds respectively, after the contrast injection, from the level of diaphragm to inferior hepatic edge. Both groups received the same contrast medium. Group A adopted an individually optimized protocol of the platform, which automatically calculated the contrast medium dose. Patients of group B received a standard contrast medium injection protocol with a contrast medium to weight dose of 1.5 ml/kg. CT values of unenhanced liver parenchyma, CT values of liver parenchyma during HAP and PVP, and CT values of the portal vein during PVP were measured.CT examinations were performed in both group A and group B patients.Analysis of results was done using SPSS software.Results: Mean CT value of liver parenchyma during HAP (HU) among patients of group A and group B was 78.3 and 77.1 respectively. Mean CT value of liver parenchyma during PVP (HU) among patients of group A and group B was 103.1 and 108.3 respectively.Mean CT value of portal vein during PVP (HU) among patients of group A and group B was 145.3 and 158.7 respectively.Mean Contrast medium dose (ml) among patients of group A and group B was 79.2 and 95.3 respectively.Significant results were obtained while comparing the outcome variables among the two study groups. Conclusion: From the above results, the authors concluded that in enhanced CT scan for liver imaging,individualizing the contrast dose on the basis of body weight through contrast medium injection protocol could efficaciously decrease contrast medium dose