Korean J Radiol.  2021 Jul;22(7):1172-1184. 10.3348/kjr.2020.0890.

Establishment of Local Diagnostic Reference Levels of Pediatric Abdominopelvic and Chest CT Examinations Based on the Body Weight and Size in Korea

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Radiology, Research Institute for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Korea
  • 2Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
  • 3Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
  • 4Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea
  • 5Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiological Science, Severance Children’s Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
  • 6Department of Radiology, Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
  • 7Department of Radiology, Kyungpook National University Hospital, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea
  • 8Department of Radiology, Chungnam National University Hospital, Chungnam National University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea
  • 9Department of Radiology, Ajou University Hospital, School of Medicine, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea

Abstract


Objective
The purposes of this study were to analyze the radiation doses for pediatric abdominopelvic and chest CT examinations from university hospitals in Korea and to establish the local diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) based on the body weight and size.
Materials and Methods
At seven university hospitals in Korea, 2494 CT examinations of patients aged 15 years or younger (1625 abdominopelvic and 869 chest CT examinations) between January and December 2017 were analyzed in this study. CT scans were transferred to commercial automated dose management software for the analysis after being de-identified. DRLs were calculated after grouping the patients according to the body weight and effective diameter. DRLs were set at the 75th percentile of the distribution of each institution’s typical values.
Results
For body weights of 5, 15, 30, 50, and 80 kg, DRLs (volume CT dose index [CTDIvol]) were 1.4, 2.2, 2.7, 4.0, and 4.7 mGy, respectively, for abdominopelvic CT and 1.2, 1.5, 2.3, 3.7, and 5.8 mGy, respectively, for chest CT. For effective diameters of < 13 cm, 14–16 cm, 17–20 cm, 21–24 cm, and > 24 cm, DRLs (size-specific dose estimates [SSDE]) were 4.1, 5.0, 5.7, 7.1, and 7.2 mGy, respectively, for abdominopelvic CT and 2.8, 4.6, 4.3, 5.3, and 7.5 mGy, respectively, for chest CT. SSDE was greater than CTDIvol in all age groups. Overall, the local DRL was lower than DRLs in previously conducted dose surveys and other countries.
Conclusion
Our study set local DRLs in pediatric abdominopelvic and chest CT examinations for the body weight and size. Further research involving more facilities and CT examinations is required to develop national DRLs and update the current DRLs.

Keyword

Diagnostic reference level; Computed tomography; Child; Radiation dose; Radiation protection
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