Clinical Question Influence on Radiation Dose of Cardiac CT Scan in Children

Overview

Journal Children (Basel)

Specialty Health Services

Date 2022 Aug 26

PMID 36010062

Authors

Theodor Adla

Martin Koci

Vojtech Suchanek

Zuzana Salagovicova

Michal Polovincak

Lukas Miksik

Jan Janousek

Miloslav Rocek

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: To assess the impact of different clinical questions on radiation doses acquired during cardiac computed tomography in children. Methods: A total of 116 children who underwent cardiac CT on a third-generation dual-source CT scanner were included. The clinical questions were divided into three main categories: the extent of scanning in the z-axis, coronary artery assessment and cardiac function assessment. Radiation dose values represented as a dose-length product (DLP) in mGy*cm were recorded from the CT scanner protocols. Results: There were significantly higher doses in cases with cardiac function assessment (median DLP 348 versus 59 mGy*cm, p < 0.01) and in cases with coronary artery assessment (median DLP 133 versus 71 mGy*cm, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The most important factor was the assessment of cardiac function, where the median radiation dose was 4.3× higher in patients with a request for cardiac function assessment. We strongly recommend that clinical requests for cardiac CT should be carefully considered in the paediatric population.

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