Radiation exposure of patients undergoing whole-body dual-modality 18F-FDG PET/CT examinations.
We investigated radiation exposure of patients undergoing whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT examinations at 4 hospitals equipped with different tomographs.


METHODS
Patient doses were estimated by using established dose coefficients for 18F-FDG and from thermoluminescent measurements performed on an anthropomorphic whole-body phantom.


RESULTS
The most relevant difference between the protocols examined was the incorporation of CT as part of the combined PET/CT examination: Separate low-dose CT scans were acquired at 2 hospitals for attenuation correction of emission data in addition to a contrast-enhanced CT scan for diagnostic evaluation, whereas, at the other sites, contrast-enhanced CT scans were used for both purposes. Nevertheless, the effective dose per PET/CT examination was similar, about 25 mSv.


CONCLUSIONS
The dosimetric concepts presented in this study provide a valuable tool for the optimization of whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT protocols. Further reduction of patient exposure can be achieved by modifications to the existing hardware and software of PET/CT systems.
Brix
Gunnar
G
Division of Medical Radiation Hygiene and Dosimetry, Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Neuherberg, Germany. gbrix@bfs.de
Lechel
Ursula
U
Glatting
Gerhard
G
Ziegler
Sibylle I
SI
Münzing
Wolfgang
W
Müller
Stefan P
SP
Beyer
Thomas
T
D001822:Body Burden; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D012062:Relative Biological Effectiveness; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D014915:Whole-Body Counting / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18