Ultra-Low-Dose Computed Tomography Chest for Screening of COVID-19 Patients: Assessment of Radiation Dose Reduction

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Chest computed tomography (CT) scans have a significant role in the identification and treatment of COVID-19 disease. In earlier studies, the introduction of chest CT has been a highly sensitive method in testing COVID-19 pneumonia. With a radiation dose comparable to a chest X-ray, ultra-low-dose CT has been promised to be a successful method for lowering radiation dose and motion artifact. Materials and Methods: The research was carried out at a tertiary care facility’s radiology department between August 1 and August 31, 2020. A sum of 109 individuals aged over 18 years old and been called for a noncontrast CT scan chest and received were included. Results: The minimum age was 18 and the maximum was 87, where 14.67% of them are between 21 and 40 years, 40.37% of them are between 41 and 60 years and 44.96% of them are between 61 and 87 years. Male’s mean age is 55.89 years and female’s mean age is 60.14 years. The overall mean age is 57.02 years and standard deviation is 13.49 years. The average body mass index was 26.51 ± 3.5 kg/m2. In the standard dose and ultra-low-dose groups, the mean effective dose values were 6.70 ± 0.85 and 0.33 ± 0.09 mSv, respectively (P < 0.001). Conclusion: When identifying lung infiltrations among the patients admitted for elective or moderately urgent surgical or medical operations at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, ultra-low-dose chest CT is an effective method that exposes patients to less radiation than standard dose CT.