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. 2022 Aug 5;9(8):1172.
doi: 10.3390/children9081172.

Clinical Question Influence on Radiation Dose of Cardiac CT Scan in Children

Theodor Adla  1   2 , Martin Kočí  2 , Vojtěch Suchánek  2 , Zuzana Šalagovičová  2 , Michal Polovinčák  2 , Lukáš Mikšík  2 , Jan Janoušek  3 , Miloslav Roček  2
Affiliations

Clinical Question Influence on Radiation Dose of Cardiac CT Scan in Children

Theodor Adla et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: To assess the impact of different clinical questions on radiation doses acquired during cardiac computed tomography in children. Methods: A total of 116 children who underwent cardiac CT on a third-generation dual-source CT scanner were included. The clinical questions were divided into three main categories: the extent of scanning in the z-axis, coronary artery assessment and cardiac function assessment. Radiation dose values represented as a dose-length product (DLP) in mGy*cm were recorded from the CT scanner protocols. Results: There were significantly higher doses in cases with cardiac function assessment (median DLP 348 versus 59 mGy*cm, p < 0.01) and in cases with coronary artery assessment (median DLP 133 versus 71 mGy*cm, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The most important factor was the assessment of cardiac function, where the median radiation dose was 4.3× higher in patients with a request for cardiac function assessment. We strongly recommend that clinical requests for cardiac CT should be carefully considered in the paediatric population.

Keywords: clinical question; dose-length product; paediatric cardiac CT; radiation dose.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of the radiation dose for the extent of scanning in the z-axis. DLP—dose length product (mGy*cm).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of the radiation dose for the coronary artery evaluation. DLP—dose length product (mGy*cm).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of the radiation dose for the cardiac function assessment, limited to patients aged > 8.1 y.o. to exclude selection bias due to patient age. DLP—dose-length product (mGy*cm).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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