Low-dose paediatric cardiac and thoracic computed tomography with prospective triggering: Is it possible at any heart rate?

Abstract Objective To demonstrate that the use of step-and-shoot (SAS) mode in paediatric cardiac CT angiography (CCTA) is possible at heart rates (HR) greater than 65 bpm, allowing low-dose acquisition with single-source 64-slices CT. Methods We retrospectively included 125 paediatric patients (0–6 years). CCTA was performed with SAS at diastolic phase in 31 patients (group D, HR  Results For coronary indications, median ED was 0.6 mSv in group D versus 0.9 mSv in group S (p  Conclusion SAS mode is feasible in children with HR greater than 65 bpm allowing low-dose CCTA. It provided comparable image quality in systole, compared to diastole. SAS at the systolic phase provided better image quality with less radiation dose compared to non-gated scans for whole thorax examinations.