Evaluation of Image Quality and Dose in Abdominal and Pelvic Helical CT in Patients with Lymphoma

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of pelvic and abdominal CT images performed for lymphoma according to the criteria proposed in the European Commission Guidelines on radiation imaging.(En castellano dice: la Guia de la Comision Europea. Lo que pasa es que hay muchas guias publicadas por la Comision: aseguranse que sea esta la citada) Material and methods: The criteria were evaluated in a sample of 100 patients attended at five public hospitals in the Autonomous Community of Madrid. All patients underwent single-slice helical CT studies. Fulfillment of the imaging criteria in the selected images was evaluated by five radiologists, one from each center, working independently. The Index of Image Quality (IIQ) was determined for the complete abdominal and pelvic examination. The dose was also measured to estimate the values of the CT Dose Index (CTDIw), Dose by Length Product (DLP), and effective dose (E). Results: A high rate of fulfillment of the criteria was found for individual abdominal images. In the pelvis, the rate of fulfillment was lower, especially for three criteria. The IIQ for each center was between 83%-92%, with variable degrees of internal deviation. The mean values of CTDIw per center were between 16-23 mGy; DLP values were between 430 and 750 mGy cm, and the effective dose was 7-12 mSv. In general, no correlation was found between IIQ and dose per patient, either for the entire sample (r = 0.04) or by centers (r 0.36) pound. Conclusions: The utility of the European Union's Quality Criteria was confirmed. We have elaborated a single list of criteria of image quality and suggest reference dosage levels for abdominal-pelvic CT examinations in patients with lymphoma.