"Multidetector-row CT" is in, but "multislice CT" is out, say new guidelines issued by the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) in the Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography.
The group wanted to sort out confusion over the different terms used to describe cardiac CT technology, wrote an SCCT working group.
"There are multiple abbreviations for some terms, multiple terms for some concepts, and some concepts that lack clear definitions and/or usage," the group wrote (JCCT, May 23, 2011). As a result, it continued, the new guidelines for cardiac CT-related terminology were developed "in an effort to aid the work of all those who seek to contribute to the literature, clinical practice, and investigation of the field."
A few examples of the new terms versus the old (in parentheses) include:
- Myocardial CT perfusion (CT myocardial perfusion imaging)
- Contrast transit time (circulation time, contrast delay)
- Timing bolus (test bolus)
- Bolus tracking (bolus monitoring)
- Axial scan (step and shoot scan)
- Raw data (attenuation data, scan data)
- Detector-row width (slice width, slice collimation)
- ECG-based tube current modulation (ECG pulsing, dose modulation)
- Scan length (scan range)
- Scan time (acquisition time)
- Calcium volume (calcium score)
