Is targeted reconstruction necessary for evaluating contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography using a liquid crystal display monitor?
PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine whether 20-cm field-of-view (FOV) targeted reconstruction (TR) on contrast-enhanced (CE) chest computed tomography (CT) might improve the diagnostic value compared with simple zooming (SZ) from whole-thorax FOV images using a 2 million (2M)-pixel liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively evaluated 44 patients. SZ images were magnified from a FOV of 26-34 cm (mean 29.7 cm). Parameters were 512 x 512 matrix and 3 mm thickness and interval. Images were reconstructed using a soft-tissue kernel. Three radiologists evaluated contour, spiculation, notch, pleural tag, invasion, and internal characteristics of the lesions using 5-scale scores. We also performed a phantom study to evaluate the spatial resolution of images. RESULTS: The diagnostic value of the TR images was similar to that of the SZ images, with the findings identified in 88%-100% of the cases. Artifacts from high-density structures deteriorated the
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