CT SCANNING OF THE PARANASAL SINUSES - THE EFFECT OF REDUCING MAS

High quality CT scans are required prior to fibreoptic endoscopic sinu s surgery (FESS) surgery and in many institutions such scans are perfo rmed using a high mAs technique. Consequently, the investigation impar ts a radiation dose to the patient and in particular to the eye. Such a radiation dose is a possible source of morbidity. We believe that th e mAs, and consequently the radiation dose, can be considerably reduce d without affecting scan quality. The present study compares the quali ty of sinus CT scans performed at two mAs values, 40 and 60. Scan qual ity was assessed in terms of the ability to visualize clearly importan t anatomical structures and in terms of overall perceived quality. We show that mAs values as low as 40 can be used without adversely affect ing the diagnostic quality of the examination.