Diagnostic reference levels for the most frequent radiological examinations carried out in Brazil

Abstract

Objectives. A large-scale survey of doses to patients undergoing the most frequent radiological examinations was carried out in health services in São Paulo Conclusions. Despite the reduced number of ESD values and rooms for the pediatric patient group, it is recommended that practices in chest examinations be revised and that specific national reference doses and image quality be established after a broader survey is carried out.Thermoluminescent dosimetry, radiology, Brazil. ABSTRACTThe radiation protection system for patients subjected to medical exposures in diagnostic radiology is governed by principles of justification and optimization, including the consideration of diagnostic reference levels (DRLs). Therefore, a diagnostic radiological procedure is justified if the benefits to the individual patient from the medical diagnostic obtained with the radiological image balance the individual detriment the exposure may cause. Once a medical exposure has been justified, the principle of optimization is applied-that is, the radiological examination must be carried out with equipment and exposure parameters that ensure doses to patients as low as reasonably practicable, consistent with the intended diagnostic purpose (1). For diagnostic medical exposures, this value is interpreted as being the lowest dose possible, which is consistent with the required image quality that is necessary for obtaining the desired diagnostic information.From these principles, and considering that all medical exposures bring a potential health benefit to patients, dose

Estimating the cancer risk and mortalities induced by routine digital radiography examinations on patient of different ages in Mazandaran province

“…In addition, in our study the exposure parameters in chest radiographies were higher, therefore, they are expected to have a higher ESDs. In our study, the ESD values for chest examination in both projections, PA and LAT, were higher than those of recommended by the UK (35) , Brazil (36) and Slovenia (37) . Owning to the results, women have a higher cancer probability risk in comparison to men.…”

Examining Practitioners' Assessments of Perceived Aesthetic and Diagnostic Quality of High kVp–Low mAs Pelvis, Chest, Skull, and Hand Phantom Radiographs

“…The chest was selected because it is also one of the most common radiographic examinations performed in typical clinical practice [8,15,16] and appears to be the most commonly used anatomic area for studies examining dose optimization and/ or image quality [4,7,8,10,11,14,17,18]. The skull was selected because, although it is not a common radiographic examination in developed countries, it is still frequently performed in developing countries because of the prohibitive costs of computed tomography [19]; it is an area for which highquality examinations are required for diagnosis, especially in the event of nonaccidental injury and for which radiographs are generally of poor quality [20,21]; and it has been used in other studies examining dose optimization and/or image quality [13,21]. The hand was selected because it is a much thinner anatomic area than the other areas used in this study, and thus, changes in technical factors may affect image quality more prominently; also, this anatomic area does not appear to have been used in previous studies examining dose optimization and/or image quality and was included for novelty.…”

Reducing Dose for Digital Cranial Radiography: The Increased Source to the Image-receptor Distance Approach

“…A study reviewing radiology departments in Sao Paulo, Brazil, reported that head (skull and sinus) examinations are one of the three most frequent examinations performed at a rate of 47 per 1,000 population, and with a population of 39.2 million this accounts for 1.84 million people annually [20]. Given the more frequent usage in developing countries and its occasional usage in developed countries, every effort should be made to ensure that all cranial projections are optimized to keep the dose to the patient as low as reasonably achievable, particularly because some patients will most likely undergo subsequent computed tomographic imaging [16,17,21].…”