A new study from the University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland has found that dual-source CT achieves a lower effective radiation dosage for a heart examination than conventional CT.
The study also demonstrated that stenoses can be diagnosed with similar high accuracy as invasive x-ray angiography. The results of the study were published in the June issue of Heart, the official journal of the British Cardiovascular Society.
Researchers analyzed 120 patients with suspected coronary heart disease who were scanned with Erlangen, Germany-based Siemens Healthcare's Somatom Definition CT scanner, which features two x-ray tubes. Siemens' Adaptive Cardio sequence with a step-and-shoot mode was used with the dual-source CT to reduce radiation dose.
The results show that CT coronary angiography with a dual-source CT in step-and-shoot mode produces images of excellent diagnostic quality in patients with stable heart rates up to 70 beats per minute, the researchers said. The study required an effective dose of 2.5 mSv on average with a deviation of plus/minus 0.8 mSv. In previous research, a normal average effective dose for heart scans was between 9 mSv and 21 mSv.
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![Images show the pectoralis muscles of a healthy male individual who never smoked (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; body mass index [BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared], 28.4; number of cigarette pack-years, 0; forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], 97.6% predicted; FEV1: forced vital capacity [FVC] ratio, 0.71; pectoralis muscle area [PMA], 59.4 cm2; pectoralis muscle volume [PMV], 764 cm3) and a male individual with a smoking history and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; BMI, 27.5; number of cigarette pack-years, 43.2, FEV1, 48% predicted; FEV1:FVC, 0.56; PMA, 35 cm2; PMV, 480.8 cm3) from the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (i.e., CanCOLD) study. The CT image is shown in the axial plane. The PMV is automatically extracted using the developed deep learning model and overlayed onto the lungs for visual clarity.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/03/genkin.25LqljVF0y.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&crop=focalpoint&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
