title: Eight years of quality control in Bulgaria: impact on mammography practice.
abstract: The requirements for quality control (QC) in diagnostic radiology were introduced in Bulgarian legislation in 2005. Hospital medical physicists and several private medical physics groups provide QC services to radiology departments. The aim of this study was to analyse data from QC tests in mammography and to investigate the impact of QC introduction on mammography practice in the country. The study was coordinated by the National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection. All medical physics services were requested to fill in standardised forms with information about most important parameters routinely measured during QC. All QC service providers responded. Results demonstrated significant improvement of practice since the introduction of QC, with reduction of established deviations from 65 % during the first year to 7 % in the last year. The systems that do not meet the acceptability criteria were suspended from use. Performance of automatic exposure control and digital detectors are not regularly tested because of the absence of requirements in the legislation. The need of updated guidance and training of medical physicists to reflect the change in technology was demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, Sofia, Bulgaria s_avramova@mail.bg.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Avramova-Cholakova
authors.affiliation: Gammakonsult Ltd, Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lilkov
authors.affiliation: Medigray Ltd, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaneva
authors.affiliation: Raycontrol Ltd, Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Terziev
authors.affiliation: Shumen Cancer Centre, Shumen, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nakov
authors.affiliation: Burgas Cancer Centre, Burgas, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mutkurov
authors.affiliation: Stara Zagora Cancer Centre, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kovacheva
authors.affiliation: Vratsa Cancer Centre, Vratsa, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ivanova
authors.affiliation: Medical Control Ltd, Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vasilev
mesh_terms: D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology*; D002031:Bulgaria; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D011786:Quality Control; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods; D011871:Radiology / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014965:X-Rays