Low dose ct protocol in Hodgkin's lymphoma

Preconditions. We postulated, that in Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) it would be sufficient to obtain information only from one (venous) phase of contrast computer tomography (CT) to asses the effect of treatment before and after various stages of treatment. The attention was focused on an exclusion of an arterial phase (at the expense of artifacts from the superior vena cava) from the scanning protocol before treatment and a native phase of protocols after treatment. The purpose was to develop in detail the СТ specialized low-dose protocol for the HL patients. Materials and methods. 30 patients with verified HL were examined with the same equipment (Toshiba Aqilion ONE - 320 sections with bolus intensifying) under identical conditions. Main results and main conclusions. This work emphasizes an important role of CT in HL diagnostics, shows ample opportunities of that diagnostic method, points out the drawbacks of some phases of scanning, offers algorithm for extension of service lives, a decrease of dose load on patients without loosing information necessary for the analysis of treatment effect.