Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2016
Keywords:
Action 3 - Optimisation, diagnostic reference levels, image quality, Action 2 - Clinical diagnostic reference levels (DRLs)
Authors:
F. Saez, R. Gonzalez, J. J. Fondevila, M. Carreras
DOI:
10.1594/esi2016/ESI-0030
Background/Introduction
It is estimated that more than 62 million CT scans are performed each year in the US.
Approximately 8-10% of CT examinations are performed in children.
The growth in CT utilization is higher in the pediatric than adult population,
particularly in teenagers undergoing chest CT in the emergency department.
Children are more sensitive to radiation relative to adults by a factor of 3-5.
Their tissues are more radiosensitive,
they have longer lifetime to manifest radiation-induced injury,
and in addition,
each exam is cumulative.
Girls are more at risk than boys.
The smaller size and the lack of visceral fat in young children change the interaction and absorption of radiation and likewise the choice of technique and scan parameters.
These items,
besides,
make radiologists demand less noisy images in children.
Most experts agree on a linear no-threshold model that predicts that any amount of radiation has the potential to cause biologic damage,
and the risk is proportional to the dose.
We,
as radiologists,
must be committed to working on the issue of dose optimisation in Paediatric CT.