A multi-provincial survey and analysis of radiation doses from pediatric CT in China

Abstract

Objective: To survey and analyze the radiation doses of pediatric CT in some provinces (autonomous region) or municipalities in China, and compare them with the data released by the relevant domestic and international organizations, so as to identify the current status of Chinese pediatric CT radiation doses. Methods: Radiation doses of pediatric CT were collected during August and December 2016 from 40 hospitals (including 18 children’s hospitals) in 15 provinces, municipalities or autonomous regions across the China. The procedures of head CT, chest CT and abdomen CT were selected in these hospitals, and 10 patients in each group of 0− ​0.05). The dose levels of different provinces or municipalities in the same procedure and age group were not consistent, and the differences were statistically significant (P ​< ​0.05). The data were different from the domestic and international values of DRL. The 75th percentiles of CTDIw and DLP values of head CT were close to the data from Japan and UK(United Kingdom), higher than the data from Korea and EC(European Commission). The 75th percentiles of CTDI values of all age groups were lower than the values of Japan and UK, and larger than that of Korea and EC in chest CT and abdomen CT. Conclusions: The 75th percentile values of the distribution of the pediatric CT doses obtained from the survey were inconsistent with those released by the relevant national and international organizations. It is necessary to update the national DRLs for pediatric CT on the basis of the actual survey data.

Keywords

• CT
• Pediatric
• Diagnostic reference level
• Radiation dose
• Optimization