Preliminary evaluation of ultra-high pitch computed tomography enterography

CT enterography (CTE) is a valuable tool in the management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Reducing imaging time, reduced motion artifacts, and decreased radiation exposure are important goals for optimizing CTE examinations.

To assess the potential impact of new CT technology (ultra-high pitch CTE) for the ability to reduce scan time and also potentially reduce radiation exposure while maintaining image quality.

This retrospective study compared 13 patients who underwent ultra-high pitch CTE with 25 patients who underwent routine CTE on the same CT scanner with identical radiation emission settings. Total scan time and radiation exposure were recorded for each patient. Image quality was assessed by measurement of image noise and also qualitatively by two independent observers.

Total scan time was significantly lower for patients who underwent ultra-high pitch CTE (2.1 s ± 0.2) than by routine CTE (18.6 s ± 0.9) (P < 0.0001). The mean radiation exposure for ultra-high pitch CTE was also significantly lower (10.1 mGy ± 1.0) than routine CTE (15.8 mGy ± 4.5) (P < 0.0001). No significant difference in image noise was found between ultra-high pitch CTE (16.0 HU ± 2.5) and routine CTE (15.5 HU ± 3.7) (P > 0.74). There was also no significant difference in image quality noted by either of the two readers.

Ultra-high pitch CTE can be performed more rapidly than standard CTE and offers the potential for radiation exposure reduction while maintaining image quality.