Application of low-dose CT in lung cancer screening

Objective: To explore the value of pulmonary nodules in low-dose CT and follow-up standard diagnostic CT for lung cancer screening. Methods: A total of 21 subjects who have been screened for lung cancer by low-dose CT and follow-up standard diagnostic CT were randomly selected. Both CT image sets for all subjects were independently evaluated by five specialized physicians. Results: There were no significant differences between low-dose CT screening and follow-up standard diagnostic CT for lung cancer screening. The concordance rate for the diagnoses of nodule disease was approximately 82% (P < 0.001) for all categories. Agreement of the evaluation of all categories in the final diagnosis exceeded 96% (P < 0.001). With low-dose CT, the effective dose ranged from 1.5 to 3.6 mSv, whereas in the follow-up diagnostic CT, the effective dose ranged from 8.7 to 15.2 mSv. Conclusion: Low-dose CT can be effectively used as an alternative to standard-dose CT in order to reduce the radiation dose, in the follow-up of pulmonary nodules. (authors)