title: Radiation exposure of patients undergoing whole-body FDG-PET/CT examinations: an update pursuant to the new ICRP recommendations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Reinvestigation of the radiation exposure of patients undergoing whole-body [18F]FDG-PET/CT examinations pursuant to the revised recommendations of the ICRP.
  
  
  METHODS
  Conversion coefficients for equivalent organ doses were determined for realistic anthropomorphic phantoms of reference persons. Based on these data, conversion coefficients for the effective dose were calculated using the revised tissue-weighting factors that account for the different radiation susceptibilities of organs and tissues, and the redefinition of the group 'remainder tissues'.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Despite the markedly changed values of the equivalent organ doses estimated for FDG and of the tissue-weighting factors, the conversion coefficient for the effective dose resulting from FDG administration decreases only slightly by 10 %. For whole-body CT scans it remains even unchanged.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The updated dose coefficients provide a valuable tool to easily assess the generic radiation risk of patients undergoing whole-body PET/CT (or PET/MRI) examinations and can be used, amongst others, for protocol optimization.
authors.affiliation: Prof. Dr. Gunnar Brix, Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS), Abteilung für medizinischen und beruflichen Strahlenschutz, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany, Tel. +49/(0)30 18/333-23 00, Fax -23 05, E-mail: gbrix@bfs.de.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brix
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nosske
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lechel
mesh_terms: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D038622:Internationality; D008452:Maximum Allowable Concentration; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000592:standards*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000592:standards*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000592:standards*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000592:standards*; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
keywords: ICRP recommendations; PET/CT imaging; protocol optimization; radiation dosimetry; radiation risk