A comparison of Low Dose with Standard Dose Chest CT Scan in Diagnosis of COVID-19

Authors

  • Hina Hanif Mughal
  • Muhammad Imran Aftab
  • Madiha Ali
  • Faisal Mehmood
  • Sana Yaqoob
  • Mutayyaba Majeed

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53350/pjmhs22162126

Keywords:

SARS CoV 2, Diagnosis, CT scan, Safety profile

Abstract

Aim: Comparison of safety profile of low dose CT scan chest with standard dose CT scan in Covid 19.

Study design: Prospective study

Place and duration of study: Department of Radiology, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi from -01-09-2020 to 31-03-2021.

Methods After approval from ERB, 45 COVID-19 positive patients diagnosed by PCR, aged 55 years and above were selected. In the prospective study, these patients with normal CXR were advised for same day chest CT scan. Initially, a standard dose of chest CT scan of 150mAs was applied. After assessing the chest signs of Covid on scan, a low-dose CT of 30mAs was performed instantly. A comparison was made to check the diagnostic accuracy of standard-dose and low-dose CT for the identification of features of typical COVID19 pneumonia.

Results: The mean age of patients was 58.27±7.23. An admirable intra-reader agreement was found between low- and standard-dose CT in identifying typical findings of COVID pneumonia (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.98–0.99 with A p value of less than 0.001 of all readers). Mean effective dose values of low and standard dose groups were 1.69±0.38 mSv and 7.21±1.23, correspondingly. Values of absolute cancer risk per mean cumulative effective dose of low & standard dose chest CT examinations were 0.68 × 10−4 and 2.41×10−4 respectively.

Conclusions: The low dose CT chest protocol is better than standard dose for the identification of typical COVID-19 pneumonia features in routine practice with substantial decrease in dose of radiation as well as estimated cancer risk.

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