Evaluation of low-dose CT protocol of novel coronavirus pneumonia based on infection prevention and control

Objective: To explore a low dose CT scanning method on novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia based on infection prevention and control Methods: A total of 140 patients with confirmed novel coronavirus pneumonia in Xiehe hospital from January 20, 2020 to February 28, 2020 were undertaken CT scan and divided into low dose group and conventional dose group The patients in low dose group(120 kV, 31 mAs) consisted of mild type(51), severe type(15) and critically ill type(4);and those in conventional dose group(120 kv, adaptive milliampere second) consisted of mild type(48), severe type(17) and critically ill type(5) The effective radiation dose, SNR and CNR of CT scan were compared between two groups A senior and a middle radiologist made the image subjective quality scores, respectively Results: The effective dose in low dose group was lower than that of conventional dose group(t=-48 343, P0 05) For severe and critically ill patients, the score in low dose group was significantly lower than that in conventional dose group(t=-2 781, P0 05) Conclusions: Low-dose CT scanning could meet the image quality needs for patients with COVID-19 and meanwhile significantly reduce the radiation dose Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association