Low-dose Multidetector Computed Tomographic and Cone-beam Computed Tomographic Protocols for Volumetric Measurement of Simulated Periapical Lesions.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of low-dose multidetector computed tomographic (LD-MDCT) imaging for the volumetric measurement of simulated periapical lesions. METHODS: Eighteen monoradicular teeth were introduced in bone blocks, and periapical lesions were simulated at the periapical region of each tooth. All teeth were imaged using 4 acquisition protocols large (dentoalveolar) field of view (FOV) cone-beam computed tomographic (CBCT) imaging (120 kV, 5 mA, and 0.2-mm voxel), small (dental) FOV CBCT imaging (90 kV, 10 mA, and 0.2-mm voxel), standard multidetector computed tomographic imaging (120 kV, 50 mA, and 0.62-mm voxel), and LD-MDCT imaging (120 kV, 10 mA, and 0.62-mm voxel). Tomographic images were evaluated by a single trained and calibrated examiner (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.991) using ITK-SNAP segmentation software (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA). The gold standard was obtained by the impressions of the lesions with regular fluid addition silicone and individual weighing using a precision analytical scale. Data were evaluated by the repeated measures analysis of variance test; the significance level was defined as P < .05. RESULTS: No statistical differences (P > .05) were found among the groups regardless of the device, milliamperage, FOV, or voxel size. CONCLUSIONS: LD-MDCT shows performance comparable with other standard reference methods for measuring the volume of periapical lesions and can be a useful and safe protocol in clinical situations in which CBCT imaging is not available, such as in cases of patients admitted to hospitals.