Urinary calculi composed of uric acid, cystine, and mineral salts: differentiation with dual-energy CT at a radiation dose comparable to that of intravenous pyelography

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate radiation dose, image quality, and the ability to differentiate urinary calculi of differing compositions by using low-dose dual-energy computed tomography (CT).Materials and Methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study; informed consent was waived.A low-dose dual-energy CT protocol (tube voltage and reference effective tube current-time product, 140 kV and 23 mAs and 80 kV and 105 mAs; collimation, 64 × 0.6 mm; pitch, 0.7) for the detection of urinary calculi was implemented into routine clinical care.All patients (n = 112) who were examined with this protocol from July 2008 to August 2009 were included.The composition of urinary calculi was assessed by using

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