title: PAEDIATRIC CT EXPOSURE PRACTICE IN THE COUNTY OF RIO DE JANEIRO: THE NEED TO ESTABLISH DIAGNOSTIC REFERENCE LEVELS.
abstract: A pilot study of dose indicators in paediatric computed tomography (CT) was conducted to prove the need to establish diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for the county of Rio de Janeiro. The dose descriptors were estimated from the beam dosimetry by applying the protocols used in each examination. The total patient sample included 279 children. Regarding the comparison of the dose-length product values among the hospitals, the high-resolution chest CT scans were distinguished among the three types of examinations, due to the discrepancies of 1148 % (1-5 y age group) and 2248 % (5-10 y age group) presented in Hospital A's dose-length product values relative to Hospital D's dose-length product values. The results showed that without DRL, the dose variation can be significant between hospitals in the same county for the same age group in the same examination.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ciências Radiológicas (LCR), Departamento de Biofísica e Biometria, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, Pavilhão Haroldo Lisboa da Cunha, CEP 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil fisicomachado@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Fillipe M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: de Jesus
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ciências Radiológicas (LCR), Departamento de Biofísica e Biometria, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, Pavilhão Haroldo Lisboa da Cunha, CEP 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luis A G
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Magalhães
authors.affiliation: Sede, Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear (CNEN), Rua General Severiano, 90, CEP 22290-901, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kodlulovich
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011859:Radiography / Q000379:methods; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D012016:Reference Values; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards