Effects of Iterative Reconstruction on the Diagnostic Assessment 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.