Tuesday, December 2 | 1:30 p.m.-1:40 p.m. | T6-SSCH06-1 | Room E451A
In this Tuesday afternoon session, researchers will describe how ultralow-dose photon-counting CT (PCCT) performs comparably to low-dose PCCT in evaluating emphysema.
The findings are good news for patients, since ultralow-dose PCCT reduces radiation dose by 87% (equivalent to 2 standard x-rays [0.2 mSv]), noted a team led by presenter Qian Yuan, PhD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
“[Our] results conclusively validate [that PCCT] enables accurate, reliable, and comprehensive assessments of emphysema analysis and longitudinal management under only two standard chest x-rays radiation exposure,” the group wrote.
Yuan’s team performed a study that included 152 patients with emphysema who underwent same-day low-dose and ultralow-dose PCCT in a single exam between November 2024 and February 2025. Two thoracic radiologists subjectively assessed the images for image quality (sharpness, artifacts, and noise) and emphysema visual assessment (subtype and severity).
The group reported that the ultralow-dose PCCT scan reduced radiation exposure by 87%, and showed no significant differences in overall image quality, sharpness and artifacts, and noise. As well, the team found no significant difference for emphysema subtypes and severity of centrilobular and paraseptal disease between the two types of scans.
The bottom line is that “[PCCT] enables accurate, reliable, and comprehensive visual and automated assessment of emphysema under only two standard chest x-rays radiation exposure without compromising the image quality,” the team concluded.