Effect of energy difference in the evaluation of calcification size and luminal diameter in calcified coronary artery plaque using spectral CT

This study evaluated the calcium blooming-reducing effect and the differences of luminal diameter among various-energy virtual monochromatic images (VMIs) using rapid kilovolt-switching dual-energy computed tomography (DECT). Forty-five calcified segments in 31 patients were analyzed. For the analysis, 40- to 140-keV VMIs on both non-contrast CT and coronary CT angiography were generated at 10-keV steps, and calcification size and luminal diameter were measured using CT number profile curve and full-width at half-maximum method. We compared calcification size and luminal diameter on each keV VMIs with those on 70-keV VMI. There was no significant differences among the 40- to 140-keV VMIs regarding calcification size or luminal diameter. The 40- to 140-keV VMIs produced by single-source DECT had no effect on the calcification size or luminal diameter in the coronary artery.