Radiology 2002 Dec;225(3):901-6
Coronary Artery Calcium Measurement with Multi-Detector Row CT: In Vitro
Assessment of Effect of Radiation Dose.
Hong C, Bae KT, Pilgram TK, Suh J, Bradley D.
The authors assessed in vitro the effect of radiation dose on coronary artery
calcium quantification with multi-detector row computed tomography. A cardiac
phantom with calcified cylinders was scanned at various milliampere second
settings (20-160 mAs). A clear tendency was found for image noise to decrease as
tube current increased (P <.001). No tendency was found for the Agatson score
or calcium volume and mass errors to vary with tube current. Calcium
measurements were not significantly affected by the choice of tube current.
Calcium mass error was strongly correlated with calcium volume error (P
<.001). The calcium mass measurement was more accurate and less variable than
the calcium volume measurement. Copyright RSNA, 2002.
