Ultra-Low-Dose CT Noninferior to Standard Dose for Esophageal Foreign Body Detection

Ultra-low-dose computed tomography (CT) was noninferior to standard-dose CT for esophageal foreign body detection: sensitivity 97.8% vs 98.9%, specificity 100%, area under curve 0.985 vs 0.991, with 63% lower radiation dose.

• Prospective, randomized, blinded-reader design included 180 patients (120 adults, 60 children) with suspected esophageal foreign body ingestion; all had endoscopic or surgical reference-standard evaluation within 12 hours plus 30-day follow-up for negative findings.
• Primary endpoint AUC met non-inferiority: 0.985 for ultra-low-dose CT versus 0.991 for standard-dose CT; effective dose reduced by 63% (P < 0.001), while signal-to-noise ratio decreased by 37% (P < 0.001).
• Diagnostic acceptability (score ≥3) was maintained at 94.4% versus 97.8% (P = 0.070); incidental findings were present in 54 patients (30.0%), including 6 high-significance findings requiring urgent evaluation.

Automated summary

RadPigeon summaries are original and for information only. They are not clinical advice.