Effects of Iterative Reconstruction on the Diagnostic Assesment of Coronary Calcium Scores

Abstract

Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) score is a widely used indicator to determine disease severity and predict the risk of severe cardiac events. However, radiation dose associated with coronary CT scanning for CAC scoring raises concerns, especially for asymptomatic patients. Iterative Reconstruction (IR) technique represents a recently developed image processing approach for reduction of image noise and radiation dose, while improving diagnostic image quality. Despite these advantages over conventional filtered back projection technique, effects of IR techniques on CAC scores remain unclear. This review article aims to provide an overview of clinical applications of IR techniques in coronary CT angiography with a focus on the effects of different IR techniques on CAC score assessment.