Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2020
Keywords:
Performed at one institution, Not applicable, Retrospective, Image verification, Dosimetric comparison, Radiation safety, Dosimetry, CT-Angiography, CT, Radioprotection / Radiation dose, Paediatric, Head and neck, Action 7 - Radiation protection of children
Authors:
B. Habib Geryes, R. LEVY, N. Boddaert, C.-J. ROUX
DOI:
10.26044/esi2020/ESI-03962
Background/introduction
The associated risk of ionizing radiation must be considered carefully when CT is performed on children due to their higher sensitivity to radiation damage and long life expectancy [1]. Therefore, it is mandatory to respect the radiation protection principles when performing radiological examinations on children [2,3]. Once the examination is properly justified, it is hence fundamental to optimise the scan protocol in order to reduce the radiation exposure to the lowest level in accordance with the needed image quality. For head trauma indications, CT represents the gold standard, providing relevant information due to the high spatial resolution and contrast of bones and soft tissues. For CT examinations, diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) first proposed by the European Directive and subsequently introduced into French legislation [3-6], are suggested action levels above which a facility should optimise its protocol and determine if acceptable image quality can be achieved at lower doses. The national DRL in France for head CT in children aged 0-1 year, expressed in Volume Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDIvol), is recently updated to 20 mGy [6] instead of 30 mGy in 2011 [5].
The objective of this study is to optimise head computed tomography (CT) protocol in children aged less than 1 year and to understand the usefulness of multidisciplinary teamwork and iterative optimisation process in order to verify appropriateness and optimisation criteria. We assessed image quality on patients and phantom as well as radiation dose reduction compared to the diagnostic reference level.