AJR. American journal of roentgenology
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Nov 2010
Radiation dose to the pediatric cardiac catheterization and intervention patient.
The radiation dose from cardiac catheterization is particularly relevant when treating children because of their greater radiosensitivity compared with adults. Moreover, cardiac catheterization is being used increasingly for interventional radiology procedures, possibly resulting in higher patient radiation doses. This article reports the radiation doses and related factors, such as fluoroscopy time, for children who underwent cardiac catheterization and children who underwent other interventional radiology procedures. ⋯ There was a good correlation between the DAP and weight and between DAP and weight-fluoroscopic time product for children who underwent cardiac catheterization or an interventional radiology procedure. Therefore, body weight is important for determining radiation dose to children undergoing cardiac catheterization or an interventional radiology procedure. The normalized DAP (i.e., DAP divided by body weight), fluoroscopy time, and number of cine runs were greater in children who underwent an interventional radiology procedure than in those who underwent cardiac catheterization. Therefore, the radiation dose to children from interventional radiology procedures is a more critical issue.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Nov 2010
Comparative StudyPostmortem imaging-guided biopsy as an adjuvant to minimally invasive autopsy with CT and postmortem angiography: a feasibility study.
Although postmortem CT suffices for diagnosing most forms of traumatic death, the examination of natural death is, to date, very difficult and error prone. The introduction of postmortem angiography has led to improved radiologic diagnoses of natural deaths. Nevertheless, histologic changes to tissues, an important aspect in traditional examination procedures, remain obscure even with CT and CT angiography. For this reason, we examined the accuracy of a minimally invasive procedure (i.e., CT angiography combined with biopsy) in diagnosing major findings and the cause of death in natural deaths. ⋯ In light of increasing objections of the next of kin toward an autopsy and the necessity for medical examiners to assess the manner and cause of death, we think that the minimally invasive procedure described here may present a viable compromise in selected cases.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Nov 2010
A prospective evaluation of dose reduction and image quality in chest CT using adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction.
The purpose of this study was to compare the subjective image quality, image noise, and radiation dose of chest CT images reconstructed with a 30% blend of iterative reconstruction and 70% conventional filtered back projection (FBP) with those of images generated with 100% FBP. ⋯ In clinically indicated chest CT examinations, ASIR images had better image quality and less image noise at a lower radiation dose than images acquired with a conventional FBP reconstruction algorithm.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Oct 2010
CT fluoroscopy-assisted cervical transforaminal steroid injection: tips, traps, and use of contrast material.
CT fluoroscopy-assisted cervical transforaminal steroid injection is an effective therapeutic option for cervical radiculopathy, yet it is approached with trepidation by some interventionalists. CT fluoroscopy is superior to conventional fluoroscopy for delineating complex anatomic relations in the neck but must be combined with careful technique to avoid rare but serious complications. We describe the anatomy of the neural foramen, our technique of CT fluoroscopy-assisted cervical transforaminal steroid injection, and the CT appearance of appropriate and inappropriate needle positions. ⋯ Understanding anatomy will help to avoid complications and optimize the therapeutic potential of cervical transforaminal steroid injection. Use of contrast material for CT fluoroscopic guidance facilitates appropriate needle positioning and reduces the risk of complications.