Observational studyPediatric radiology2025
Pediatric photon-counting chest CT enables iodinated contrast dose reduction with preserved image quality.
Observational study in Pediatric radiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Radiation dose and objective image quality of photon-counting detector computed tomography in pediatric imaging: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Pediatric radiology · 2026Pooled it
- Photon-counting CT in head and neck radiology: bridging detector physics and clinical applications.European radiology · 2026Review
- Reduction of iodinated contrast waste, cost, and greenhouse gas emissions using imaging bulk packaging in a pediatric hospital.Pediatric radiology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPhoton-counting detector (PCD) CT allows for reduced intravenous iodinated contrast dosing with preserved or improved image quality across anatomical regions as compared to conventional energy-integrating detector (EID) CT in adults. However, there is limited evidence to support this in pediatric CT, particularly for pediatric chest CT.
objectiveTo compare image quality of photon-counting detector (PCD) chest CT with energy-integrating detector (EID) CT at varying iodinated contrast doses in pediatric patients. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This retrospective observational study included 60 contrast-enhanced chest CT studies in pediatric patients. The cohort included three groups: 20 PCD CT scans with a 1.5 mL/kg weight-based iodinated contrast dose, 20 EID CT scans with a 1.5 mL/kg dose, and 20 EID CT scans with a 2.0 mL/kg dose. Image noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were assessed through region-of-interest measurement of Hounsfield units (HU) and standard deviation (SD). Assessed locations were the lung parenchyma, thoracic aorta, main pulmonary artery, left ventricle cavity, subcutaneous tissue, and pectoralis muscle. Blinded review by three pediatric radiologists assessed overall contrast enhancement, soft tissue delineation, and streak artifact from dense contrast using 5-point Likert scales (1 - excellent to 5 - non-diagnostic). Group comparisons were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank, Chi-square, and Kruskal-Wallis tests.
resultsTwenty patients were included for each group (60 patients total). Compared to equivalent-contrast dose EID CT at 1.5 mL/kg, PCD CT showed higher left ventricle cavity SNR (21.6 [IQR 16.3-25.1] vs 16.2 [IQR 12.3-19.3], P = 0.05) and CNR (16.0 [IQR 11.3-19.5] vs 10.3 [8.8-13.7] P = 0.05), and lower image noise in pectoralis muscle (P = 0.04) and subcutaneous fat (P < 0.01). Furthermore, objective image quality on PCD CT demonstrated improvements in lung parenchyma noise, SNR, and CNR, as well as subcutaneous fat SNR and CNR (all P < 0.01) compared with both equivalent (1.5 mL/kg) and standard (2.0 mL/kg) contrast dosing in EID CT. No significant differences between PCD CT and EID CT were observed with other objective measures of image quality. Subjective assessments favored PCD CT for overall contrast enhancement to EID CT at equivalent (1.5 mL/kg) contrast dosing (median 1, IQR 1-1 vs median 2, IQR 1-5, P = 0.02) and soft tissue delineation compared with EID CT with higher (2.0 mL/kg) contrast dosing (median 1, IQR 1-2 vs median 2, IQR 1-2, P = 0.05).
conclusionPediatric chest CT using photon-counting detector technology enables iodinated contrast dose reduction while preserving image quality compared with conventional EID CT at standard contrast doses.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.