Keywords:
Emergency, Radioprotection / Radiation dose, Pulmonary vessels, CT-Angiography, Health policy and practice, Embolism / Thrombosis, Patterns of Care
Authors:
M.-L. Gargan1, M. O'sullivan2, W. Torreggiani3; 1Dublin, N/A/IE, 2Dublin/IE, 3Dublin 24/IE
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2018/C-0629
Methods and materials
A list was obtained of all the CTPAs performed in our institution between the ages 18-50 over a one year period.
As this was a retrospective study and BMI data was not possible,
a well-recognised surrogate for BMI was used called the “Fat/Bone ratio”,
which was obtained from the chest radiograph [4].
This involved measuring the soft tissue thickness over the acromio-clavicular joint and dividing it by the clavicular diameter at the midpoint of the clavicle.
A result of 0.5 corresponded to a BMI of 20,
1.0 a BMI of 25,
and 1.5 a BMI of 30.
Subcutaneous fat thickness at T9 spinous process was also used as an additional correlate for body fat.
Inclusion criteria were as follows;
1.
Adequate chest radiograph
2.
Age 18-50.
The data was analysed and the following variables audited: age,
sex,
BMI,
diagnosis of pulmonary embolism,
the presence of airways disease,
D dimer result,
other significant findings.