PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Shpilberg, K.A.
AU  - Delman, B.N.
AU  - Tanenbaum, L.N.
AU  - Esses, S.J.
AU  - Subramaniam, R.
AU  - Doshi, A.H.
TI  - Radiation Dose Reduction in CT-Guided Spine Biopsies Does Not Reduce Diagnostic Yield
AID  - 10.3174/ajnr.A4053
DP  - 2014 Dec 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 2243--2247
VI  - 35
IP  - 12
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/35/12/2243.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/35/12/2243.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.2014 Dec 01; 35
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: CT-guided biopsy is the most commonly used method to obtain tissue for diagnosis in suspected cases of malignancy involving the spine. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that a low-dose CT-guided spine biopsy protocol is as effective in tissue sampling as a regular-dose protocol, without adversely affecting procedural time or complication rates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent CT-guided spine procedures at our institution between May 2010 and October 2013. Biopsy duration, total number of scans, total volume CT dose index, total dose-length product, and diagnostic tissue yield of low-dose and regular-dose groups were compared. RESULTS: Sixty-four patients were included, of whom 31 underwent low-dose and 33 regular-dose spine biopsies. There was a statistically significant difference in total volume CT dose index and total dose-length product between the low-dose and regular-dose groups (P < .0001). There was no significant difference in the total number of scans obtained (P = .3385), duration of procedure (P = .149), or diagnostic tissue yield (P = .6017). CONCLUSIONS: Use of a low-dose CT-guided spine biopsy protocol is a practical alternative to regular-dose approaches, maintaining overall quality and efficiency at reduced ionizing radiation dose. CTDIvolvolume CT dose indexDLPdose-length productkVppeak kilovoltagemGymilligray