Radiation dose to the female breast from 16-MDCT body protocols.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of our study was to determine the radiation dose to the female breast from current 16-MDCT body examinations.


METHODS
Metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) detectors were placed in four quadrants of the breast of a female-configured anthropomorphic phantom to determine radiation dose to the breast. Imaging was performed on a 16-MDCT scanner (LightSpeed, GE Healthcare) using current clinical protocols designed to assess pulmonary embolus (PE) (140 kVp, 380 mA, 0.8-sec rotation, 16 x 1.25 mm collimation), appendicitis (140 kVp, 340 mA, 0.5-sec rotation, 16 x 0.625 mm collimation), and renal calculus (140 kVp, 160 mA, 0.5-sec rotation, 16 x 0.625 mm collimation).


RESULTS
Radiation dose to the breast ranged from 4 to 6 cGy for the PE protocol and up to 1-2 cGy in the inferior aspect of the right breast and lateral aspect of the left breast for the appendicitis protocol. The renal calculus protocol yielded less than 150 microGy absorbed breast dose.


CONCLUSIONS
Current clinical chest and abdomen protocols result in vairable radiation doses to the breast. The magnitude of exposure may have implications for imaging strategies.
Hurwitz
Lynne M
LM
Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, DUMC 3808, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Yoshizumi
Terry T
TT
Reiman
Robert E
RE
Paulson
Erik K
EK
Frush
Donald P
DP
Nguyen
Giao T
GT
Toncheva
Greta I
GI
Goodman
Philip C
PC
D001940:Breast / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods