RADIATION DOSE FOR PEDIATRIC AND YOUNG ADULT CT: A SURVEY TO ESTABLISH AGE-BASED REFERENCE LEVELS OF 2015-2016 IN KOREA

To assess the doses delivered to pediatric patients during computed tomography (CT) examinations of the brain, chest, high-resolution lung and abdomen, and to establish diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for various age groups in Korea. Dose survey was done to the 19 hospitals performing CT on children, addressing the scan parameters, volume CT dose index (CTDIvol) and dose length product (DLP). Per five age group (0, 1, 2-5, 6-10, 11-17 y of age), the proposed DRLs for brain, chest, high-resolution lung and abdomen CT are, respectively, in terms of CTDIvol: 18, 23, 26, 31, 36 mGy; 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 mGy; 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 mGy; 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 mGy; and in terms of DLP: 260, 350, 420, 500, 620 mGyaEuro cent cm; 50, 80, 100, 170, 340 mGyaEuro cent cm; 30, 40, 60, 90, 280 mGyaEuro cent cm; 70, 80, 200, 300, 500 mGyaEuro cent cm. Compared with published DRLs our suggestion for pediatric CT dose is the lower end. However, an optimization process should be initiated to reduce the spread in patient dose among hospitals despite same CT protocols shown in the study. A major element of this process should be the establishment of institution performance standard and the use of built DRLs.