Radiation Dose Survey of Pediatric Chest Computed Tomography Examinations: A Local Diagnostic Reference Levels Approach to Patient Safety

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this work was to initially establish both age and weight driven pediatric diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for chest computed tomography (CT) examinations performed at tertiary care medical institution. Another aim was to compare the presented data with internationally published ones. This initial data shall serve as basis for establishing a national DRLs values for pediatric diagnostic CT examinations. Methods: Dosimetric indexes were collected for the chest examination for 93 patients during the past 2 years in a tertiary care medical city. Results: The results are within and below the international reported levels for chest CT in several countries. Conclusion: Continuous monitoring of the radiation doses received by the patients in computed tomography is continuous and ongoing process in order to ensure compliance and to optimize clinical imaging protocols. More extensive data acquisition and analysis are required to allow better understanding of the contributing factors leading to less patient radiation dose while preserving the clinical image quality.