Objective: To assess the feasibility of performing enhanced pulmonary vein computed tomography (CT) with low radiation dose using tube voltage of 100 kV combined with current automatic regulation technology.
Methods: Patients were divided into 100 kV group (n=26) and 120 kV group (n=43) based on the tube voltages, and their pulmonary veins were scanned with current automatic regulation technology. The image qualities of these two groups were compared using quantitative and qualitative approaches.
Results: The effective dose in 100 kV group was 24% lower than that in 120 kV group (p<0.01) . The image quality was similar between these two groups (p>0.05) : the contrast to noise ratio was not significantly different (p>0.05) ; for the scores of image quality estimated by the eye, they were 5 in 13 cases, 4 in 11 cases, and 3 in 2 cases in 100 kV group and 5 in 31 cases, 4 in 8 cases, and 3 in 4 cases in 120 kV group (p>0.05) .
Conclusion: The enhanced pulmonary vein CT with tube voltage of 100 kV and 120 kV combined with current automatic regulation technology can reduce the radiation dose without sacrificing the image quality.