Radiation dose levels in pediatric chest CT: experience in 499 children evaluated with dual-source single-energy CT.
BACKGROUND
The availability of dual-source technology has introduced the possibility of scanning children at lower kVp with a high-pitch mode, combining high-speed data acquisition and high temporal resolution.


OBJECTIVE
To establish the radiation dose levels of dual-source, single-energy chest CT examinations in children.


METHODS
We retrospectively recorded the dose-length product (DLP) of 499 consecutive examinations obtained in children <50 kg, divided into five weight groups: group 1 (<10 kg, n = 129); group 2 (10-20 kg, n = 176); group 3 (20-30 kg, n = 99), group 4 (30-40 kg, n = 58) and group 5 (40-49 kg, n = 37). All CT examinations were performed with high temporal resolution (75 ms), a high-pitch mode and a weight-adapted selection of the milliamperage.


RESULTS
CT examinations were obtained at 80 kVp with a milliamperage ranging between 40 mAs and 90 mAs, and a pitch of 2.0 (n = 162; 32.5%) or 3.0 (n = 337; 67.5%). The mean duration of data acquisition was 522.8 ± 192.0 ms (interquartile range 390 to 610; median 490). In the study population, the mean CT dose index volume (CTDIvol32) was 0.83 mGy (standard deviation [SD] 0.20 mGy; interquartile range 0.72 to 0.94; median 0.78); the mean DLP32was 21.4 mGy.cm (SD 9.1 mGy.cm; interquartile range 15 to 25; median 19.0); and the mean size-specific dose estimate (SSDE) was 1.7 mGy (SD 0.4 mGy; interquartile range 1.5 to 1.9; median 1.7). The DLP32, CTDIvol32and SSDE were found to be statistically significant in the five weight categories (P < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
This study establishes the radiation dose levels for dual-source, single-kVp chest CT from a single center. In the five weight categories, the median values varied 15-37 mGy.cm for the DLP32, 0.78-1.25 mGy for the CTDIvol32and 1.6-2.1 mGy for the SSDE.
Department of Thoracic Imaging, Hospital Calmette, CHU Lille (EA 2694) University of Lille, F-59000, Lille, France. martine.remy@chru-lille.fr.
Remy-Jardin
RJ
Martine
Department of Thoracic Imaging, Hospital Calmette, CHU Lille (EA 2694) University of Lille, F-59000, Lille, France.|Department of Imaging, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.
Teresa
T
Santangelo
Department of Thoracic Imaging, Hospital Calmette, CHU Lille (EA 2694) University of Lille, F-59000, Lille, France.
Lucie
L
Colas
Department of Thoracic Imaging, Hospital Calmette, CHU Lille (EA 2694) University of Lille, F-59000, Lille, France.
Faivre
F
Jean-Baptiste
Department of Biostatistics; CHU Lille, University of Lille (EA 2694) , F-59000, Lille, France.
Alain
A
Duhamel
Department of Pediatric Pulmonology,, CHU Lille - University of Lille, Lille, France.
Antoine
A
Deschildre
Department of Thoracic Imaging, Hospital Calmette, CHU Lille (EA 2694) University of Lille, F-59000, Lille, France.
Jacques
J
Remy
D000293:Adolescent; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
Chest; Children; Computed tomography; Dual-source computed tomography; Lungs; Peak kilovoltage; Radiation dose