title: Radiation protection of patients in diagnostic and interventional radiology in Asian countries: impact of an IAEA project.
abstract: Recognizing the lack of information on image quality and patient doses in most countries in Asia, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) initiated a project to assess the status of imaging technology, practice in conventional radiography, mammography, computed tomography (CT) and interventional procedures, and to implement optimisation actions. A total of 20 countries participated. Obsolete practices of use of fluoroscopy for positioning, photofluorography, chest fluoroscopy and conventional tomography were reported by 4 out of 7 countries that provided this information. Low-kV technique for chest radiography is in use in participating countries for 20-85% of cases, and manual processing is in 5-85% of facilities in 5 countries. Instances of the use of adult CT protocol for children in three participating countries were observed in 10-40% of hospitals surveyed. After implementation of a Quality Control programme, the image quality in conventional radiography improved by zero to 13 percentage points in certain countries and dose reduction was from 10% to 85%. In mammography, poor quality, ranging from 10 to 29% of images in different countries was observed. The project increased attention to dose quantities and dose levels in computed tomography, although doses in most cases were not higher than reference levels. In this study 16-19% of patients in interventional cardiology received doses that have potential for either stochastic risk or tissue reaction. This multi-national study is the first of its kind in the Asia, and it provided insight into the situation and opportunities for improvement.
authors: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 100, Vienna, Austria. M.Rehani@iaea.org
authors: Madan M
authors: MM
authors: Rehani
authors: Olivera
authors: O
authors: Ciraj-Bjelac
authors: Huda M
authors: HM
authors: Al-Naemi
authors: Jamila Salem
authors: JS
authors: Al-Suwaidi
authors: Leila
authors: L
authors: El-Nachef
authors: Hamid Reza
authors: HR
authors: Khosravi
authors: Mohammad Hassan
authors: MH
authors: Kharita
authors: Pirunthavany
authors: P
authors: Muthuvelu
authors: Aruna S
authors: AS
authors: Pallewatte
authors: Bayani Cruz San
authors: BC
authors: Juan
authors: Mohamed
authors: M
authors: Shaaban
authors: Areesha
authors: A
authors: Zaman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001822:Body Burden; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*