A national survey on radiation dose in CT in The Netherlands

Abstract

ObjectivesTo assess radiation exposure due to CT in the Netherlands.MethodsTwenty-one hospitals participated in a dose survey for the 21 most frequently used CT protocols. Hospitals completed a Web survey with detailed parameters for one patient per protocol, including the dose length product (DLP) from the scanner dose report. Only standard-sized patients (1.74 m and 77 kg and BMI 25.4 kg/m2 ± 15 %) for each protocol and available scanner were considered. Effective dose (E) per protocol was estimated using ICRP-103-based E/DLP coefficients. Dose levels were compared to surveys from other countries and to diagnostic reference levels.ResultsData of 186 patients (247 scan phases) from 14 hospitals and 19 scanners were used for final analysis of DLP and E. Effective doses varied from 0.2 mSv in sinus CT to 19.4 mSv for multiphase liver. The most frequent exams were brain (1.5 mSv), abdomen (8.0 mSv), and thorax-abdomen (11.5 mSv). These results are lower than in Germany and comparable to those in the UK, and are within reference levels. Results between hospitals varied, with per protocol minimum/maximum E ratios ranging from 1.1–5.4.ConclusionsCompared to surrounding countries, CT in the Netherlands is associated with relatively low radiation doses in standard patients. Important differences remain between hospitals.Main Messages• A national dose survey providing updated, detailed data for patient dose in the most frequently used CT protocols.• CT in the Netherlands is associated with relatively low individual radiation doses in standard patients compared to surrounding European countries.• Considerable differences remain between hospitals for the most frequently used CT protocols, indicating the need for further optimisation.

Effective and organ doses from common CT examinations in one general hospital in Tehran, Iran

“…Comparing our calculated CTDI v and DLP values for various CT protocols against the values reported by other investigators [6,8,13,[26][27]29] for other countries indicate lower values for all the protocols ( Table 3). Such differences are resulted from the using of different scan protocols which affect on radiation dose.…”

“…The selection of appropriate scanning parameters such as tube current-time, tube potential, slice collimation and etc, which affects the CTDI v , and the scan length, which affects the DLP, can decrease patients' doses significantly. In Table 4 our calculated effective doses obtained for every CT protocol are also compared with the similar protocols reported [7,8,21,28] for other countries. From the data presented in this table, it can be noted that our effective doses for the head, chest, pelvis and abdomen-pelvis scan are less than other reports.…”

“…For example, based on a report published in 2007 [12] approximately 62 million CT examinations have been done in the USA per year. The number of CT examinations made annually in the Netherlands is reported by Van der Molen and colleagues [8]. According to this study, more than 1.16 million CT scans have just been performed in 2010 in the Netherlands.…”

“…This rate has been increased to 68% of the cumulative dose by 2010 [7]. In 2013, a comprehensive research was also performed in the Netherlands to achieve the national's dose reference level and the level of doses resulted from 21 normal CT protocols [8]. The results indicated that although only 11% of various X-ray examinations are perform by CT, more than 47.5% of the national cumulative dose of this country is attributed to CT exams.…”

Role of C-Arm VasoCT in the Use of Endovascular WEB Flow Disruption in Intracranial Aneurysm Treatment

“…For comparison, the standard brain CT effective dose average is 1.5 mSv. 13 While VasoCT appears essential during endovascular treatment, it is also very useful during follow-up. It can be performed with the patient under local anesthesia, and it allows the assessment of any residual flow inside the 2 separate layers (Fig 3).…”