Establishment of Computed Tomography Diagnostic Reference Levels in Tobruk
Journal Title: Journal of Medical Diagnostic Methods - Year 2018, Vol 7, Issue 3
Abstract
ntroduction: CT examinations are the cause of 40% of the collective dose resulting from medical exposure inthe UK. The use of CT in the UK and worldwide is still increasing, so it is likely that the contribution to collective dosewill rise even further in the next few years. It became clear that the responsible use of CT requires the optimisationof exposure factors. In response, the radiology community has worked to implement as low as reasonablypracticable principles in CT imaging.Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) of the six most frequentCT-scans examinations of adults in Tobruk.Material and Method: CT dose data of 171 patients was collected from November 2017 to February 2018 inadult patients in Tobruk Medical Center’ scanner. The mean Dose Length Product (DLP), standard deviation, range,median, standard error of the mean, and the 75th ercentile of dose spread were calculated and analysed usingSPSS software version 23.0. The common CT examinations such Routine Head, Chest CT without contrast, Chest,Abdomen, pelvis (CAP), Kidneys, Ureters, Bladder (KUB), Abdomen and pelvis with contrast, Abdomen withcontrast were reviewed. The DRL for each type of examination was defined as the 75th percentile of its DLP.Results: Out of the 171 examinations, 33.3% were head, 15.2% chest, 23.4% CAP, 11.1% KUB, 10% Abdomen/pelvis and 7% abdomen. Examinations were nearly comparable with male and female patients, and 38% were inpatients between 19 and 40 years of age. The 75th percentile of DLP or DRLs was: (1999.2 mGycm), (2284.9mGycm), (3116.8 mGycm), (3527.3 mGycm), (2840.1 mGycm), and (2754.3 mGycm), respectively for RoutineHead, Chest CT without contrast, Chest, Abdomen, pelvis (CAP), Kidneys, Ureters, Bladder (KUB), Abdomen andpelvis with contrast, Abdomen with contrast.Conclusion: Our DRLs values were extremely high in almost all CT examinations comparing with DiagnosticReference Levels (DRLs) derived from UK, Canada, Ireland, and Japan. There is remarkable variation in dose forthe commonest CT-scans examinations in Tobruk, requiring then an optimization process from these determinedDRLs and establishment of national DRLs.
Authors and Affiliations
Nagat Bolowia
Keywords
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- EP ID EP580943
- DOI 10.4172/2168-9784.1000274
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Establishment of Computed Tomography Diagnostic Reference Levels in Tobruk
ntroduction: CT examinations are the cause of 40% of the collective dose resulting from medical exposure inthe UK. The use of CT in the UK and worldwide is still increasing, so it is likely that the contribution to colle...