This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Khursheed, A Articles by Wall, B F Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Khursheed, A Articles by Wall, B F

Influence of patient age on normalized effective doses calculated for CT examinations

National Radiological Protection Board, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0RQ, UK

Monte Carlo simulations of CT examinations have been performed to estimate effective doses, normalized to axial air kerma, for six mathematical phantoms representing ages from newborn to adult, and for three CT scanner models covering a range of designs. Organ doses were calculated for CT exposures of contiguous, 1 cm wide, transverse slices in each phantom and summed to give normalized effective doses for scans of four regions of the trunk and head. In all cases an inverse trend is observed between normalized effective dose and phantom age, with the dose to the newborn from head and neck scans being 2.2–2.5 times higher than that to the adult, depending on scanner model. Corresponding increases for scans of the trunk region are more variable between scanners and range from a factor of 1.3 to 2.4. If typical clinical exposure conditions for adults are also utilized for children, then, for example, the effective dose to the newborn from a chest scan could be above 15 mSv. It is concluded that CT has the potential to deliver significantly greater radiation doses to children than to adults and in view of their greater susceptibility to radiation effects, special efforts should be made in clinical practice to reduce doses to children by the use of size-specific scan protocols.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. d. Bastos, E. Y. Lee, K. J. Strauss, D. Zurakowski, D. A. Tracy, and P. M. Boiselle Motion Artifact on High-Resolution CT Images of Pediatric Patients: Comparison of Volumetric and Axial CT Methods Am. J. Roentgenol., November 1, 2009; 193(5): 1414 - 1418. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. M. Alessio, P. E. Kinahan, V. Manchanda, V. Ghioni, L. Aldape, and M. T. Parisi Weight-Based, Low-Dose Pediatric Whole-Body PET/CT Protocols J. Nucl. Med., October 1, 2009; 50(10): 1570 - 1578. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Loeve, M. H. Lequin, M. de Bruijne, I. J. C. Hartmann, K. Gerbrands, M. van Straten, W. C. J. Hop, and H. A. W. M. Tiddens Cystic Fibrosis: Are Volumetric Ultra-Low-Dose Expiratory CT Scans Sufficient for Monitoring Related Lung Disease? Radiology, October 1, 2009; 253(1): 223 - 229. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. D. Deak, O. Langner, M. Lell, and W. A. Kalender Effects of Adaptive Section Collimation on Patient Radiation Dose in Multisection Spiral CT Radiology, July 1, 2009; 252(1): 140 - 147. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. C. Shrimpton, B. F. Wall, T. T. Yoshizumi, L. M. Hurwitz, and P. C. Goodman Effective Dose and Dose-Length Product in CT Radiology, February 1, 2009; 250(2): 604 - 605. [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. J. Wan, M. Krahn, W. J. Ungar, E. Caku, L. Sung, L. S. Medina, and A. S. Doria Acute Appendicitis in Young Children: Cost-effectiveness of US versus CT in Diagnosis--A Markov Decision Analytic Model Radiology, February 1, 2009; 250(2): 378 - 386. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Gu, B. Bednarz, X. G. Xu, and S. B. Jiang Assessment of patient organ doses and effective doses using the VIP-Man adult male phantom for selected cone-beam CT imaging procedures during image guided radiation therapy Radiat Prot Dosimetry, September 1, 2008; 131(4): 431 - 443. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. H. Lee, J. M. Goo, H. J. Ye, S.-J. Ye, C. M. Park, E. J. Chun, and J.-G. Im Radiation Dose Modulation Techniques in the Multidetector CT Era: From Basics to Practice1 RadioGraphics, September 1, 2008; 28(5): 1451 - 1459. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. A. Mettler Jr, W. Huda, T. T. Yoshizumi, and M. Mahesh Effective Doses in Radiology and Diagnostic Nuclear Medicine: A Catalog Radiology, July 1, 2008; 248(1): 254 - 263. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Huda and A. Vance Patient Radiation Doses from Adult and Pediatric CT Am. J. Roentgenol., February 1, 2007; 188(2): 540 - 546. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P C Shrimpton, M C Hillier, M A Lewis, and M Dunn National survey of doses from CT in the UK: 2003 Br. J. Radiol., December 1, 2006; 79(948): 968 - 980. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. A. de Jong, J. R. Mayo, K. Golmohammadi, Y. Nakano, M. H. Lequin, H. A. W. M. Tiddens, J. Aldrich, H. O. Coxson, and D. D. Sin Estimation of Cancer Mortality Associated with Repetitive Computed Tomography Scanning Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., January 15, 2006; 173(2): 199 - 203. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. S. Brody, H. A. W. M. Tiddens, R. G. Castile, H. O. Coxson, P. A. de Jong, J. Goldin, W. Huda, F. R. Long, M. McNitt-Gray, M. Rock, et al. Computed Tomography in the Evaluation of Cystic Fibrosis Lung Disease Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., November 15, 2005; 172(10): 1246 - 1252. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. A. Castellano, D. R. Dance, and P. M. Evans CT dosimetry: getting the best from the adult Cristy phantom Radiat Prot Dosimetry, May 17, 2005; 114(1-3): 321 - 325. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. D. Nawfel, P. F. Judy, A. R. Schleipman, and S. G. Silverman Patient Radiation Dose at CT Urography and Conventional Urography Radiology, July 1, 2004; 232(1): 126 - 132. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]