A review on chest CT scanning parameters implemented in COVID-19 patients: bringing low-dose CT protocols into play

Abstract

Background This study aims to review chest computed tomography (CT) scanning parameters which are utilized to evaluate patients for COVID-19-induced pneumonia. Also, some of radiation dose reduction techniques in CT would be mentioned, because using these techniques or low-dose protocol can decrease the radiation burden on the population. Main body Chest CT scan can play a key diagnostic role in COVID-19 patients. Additionally, it can be useful to monitor imaging changes during treatment. However, CT scan overuse during the COVID-19 pandemic raises concerns about radiation-induced adverse effects, both in patients and healthcare workers. Conclusion By evaluating the CT scanning parameters used in several studies, one can find the necessity for optimizing these parameters. It has been found that chest CT scan taken using low-dose CT protocol is a reliable diagnostic tool to detect COVID-19 pneumonia in daily practice. Moreover, the low-dose chest CT protocol results in a remarkable reduction (up to 89%) in the radiation dose compared to the standard-dose protocol, not lowering diagnostic accuracy of COVID-19-induced pneumonia in CT images. Therefore, its employment in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic is highly recommended.

Ultra-low-dose chest CT protocol during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic: a double-observer prospective study on 250 patients to evaluate its detection accuracy

“…The accuracy in this study was also high but did not exceed that of Bahrami-Motlagh et al (96.6%) [20]. The CT sensitivity also in this study exceeded that in Azadbakht et al [25] (60-70%).…”

“…Summary of statistical results for "low-dose" and "ultra-low-dose" CT protocols in patients (< 80-kg body weight) 93% 90 25. to 94.92% 92.93% 90.25 to 94.92% 92.93% 90.25 to 94.92% 92.93% 90.25 to 94.92% Negative predictive value (NPV) 40.00% 11.31 to 77.70% 40.00% 11.31 to 77.70% 40.00% 11.31 to 77.70% 40.00% 11.31 to 77.70% 38% 83.03 to 95.29% 90.38% 83.03 to 95.29% 90.38% 83.03 to 95.29% 90.38% 83.03 to 95.29%…”

Assessment of radiation doses and image quality of multiple low-dose CT exams in COVID-19 clinical management

“…The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) organized a webinar to discuss CT practice and protocols for COVID-19 from a radiation protection perspective [10]. The median CT dose index for chest CT was 9 mGy in COVID-19 pneumonia as summarized from 782 patients from 54 health care sites in 28 countries, which has eightfold variations across multiple health care sites and is deemed as regular dose [11]. For example, Pan et al reported CTDIvol of 8.4 ± 2.0 mGy for single chest CT exam of COVID-19 patients [7].…”

Cannonball appearance, a tricky yet underrated imaging manifestation of COVID-19

“…Chest CT has been and is continuing to be the most widely implemented imaging modality to diagnose COVID-19 pneumonia and in some cases triage patients throughout the globe. Even low-dose chest CT scan is capable of diagnosing COVID-19 pneumonia accurately [ 15 ]. All common CT patterns of COVID-19 pneumonia have been reported and discussed thoroughly in literature.…”