Abstract
OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to evaluate the difference in coronary enhancement provided by 60 versus 80 mL of contrast medium (370 mg I/mL) for prospectively ECG-gated single-heartbeat axial 320-MDCT. MATERIALS AND METHODS. We retrospectively evaluated 108 consecutive 320-MDCT angiography studies. Group 1 (n = 36) received 60 mL of an iodinated contrast medium and group 2 (n = 72), 80 mL. All patients were imaged with a standardized protocol: iopamidol 370 followed by 40 mL of saline, both administered at a rate of 6 mL/s. Two imagers subjectively assessed image quality throughout the coronary arteries. Region-of-interest attenuation (HU) measurements were performed in the aorta plus the proximal and distal coronary arteries. RESULTS. Subjective analysis of all coronary segments showed slightly better image quality for group 2. Patients in group 1 had significantly (p < 0.05) lower mean attenuation values for the individual coronary vessels. Nevertheless, 96.7% of all coronary segments in th...

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