Background:
Low dose CT has become a promising examination method for the diagnosis
of Congenital heart disease (CHD) in children because it has a low radiation dose, but it has
not been widely accepted as an alternative to standard-dose CT in clinical applications due to concerns
about image quality. Therefore, we suggest that the diagnostic accuracy, image quality, and
radiation dose of low-dose CT for CHD in children should be fully explored through a metaanalysis
of existing studies.
Methods:
A comprehensive search was performed to identify relevant English and Chinese articles
(from inception to May 2019). All selected studies concerned the diagnosis of CHD in children
using low-dose CT. The accuracy of low-dose CT was determined by calculating pooled estimates
of sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio, and likelihood ratio. Pooling was conducted
using a bivariate generalized linear mixed model. Forest plots and summary receiver operating
characteristic (SROC) curves were generated.
Results:
Ten studies, accounting for 577 patients, met the eligibility criteria. The pooled sensitivity
and specificity were 0.95 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.92-0.97) and 1.00 (95% CI 1.00-
1.00), respectively. The pooled diagnostic odds ratio, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood
ratio of low-dose CT were 12705.53 (95% CI 5065.00-31871.73), 671.29 (95% CI 264.77-
1701.97), and 0.05 (95% CI 0.03-0.08), respectively. Additionally, the area under the SROC curve
was 1.00 (95% CI 0.99-1.00), suggesting that low-dose CT is an excellent diagnostic tool for
CHD in children.
Conclusion:
Low-dose CT, especially with a prospective ECG-triggering mode, provides excellent
imaging quality and high diagnostic accuracy for CHD in children.
Low-dose CT angiography using ASiR-V for potential living renal donors: a prospective analysis of image quality and diagnostic accuracy
