A. Boulanouar et al.: Radioprotection 2025, 60( 4), 297 – 305 301
Table 3. Acquisitions parameters and ours DRL CI of paediatric chest CT examinations by age group of children.
CI For Chest CT
Bronchiectasis / Bronchitis
Pneumonia
Congenital Malformation
Age group( Years)
Tube voltage |
Tube charge |
Number of |
Explored |
Pitch |
|
Our study |
( kV) |
( mAs) |
series |
length( cm) |
|
|
|
Min-Mean-Max |
Min-Mean-Max |
Min-Mean-Max |
Min-Mean-Max |
Min-Max |
P75 |
P75 |
CTDI vol( mGy) |
DLP( mGy) |
1 – 5 |
110 – 110 – 110 |
22 – 36 – 60 |
1 – 1.6 – 3 |
17 – 35 – 96 |
1 – 1.5 |
3.7 |
119 |
5 – 10 |
110 – 112 – 130 |
33 – 55 – 92 |
1 – 1.4 – 2 |
21 – 49 – 120 |
0.8 – 1.5 |
4.7 |
253 |
10 – 15 |
110 – 118 – 130 |
32 – 55 – 94 |
1 – 1.37 – 3 |
16 – 44 – 145 |
0.8 – 1.5 |
5.1 |
238 |
1 – 5 |
110 – 110 – 110 |
21 – 42 – 64 |
1 – 2.2 – 4 |
18 – 48 – 79 |
1 – 1.5 |
3.8 |
193 |
5 – 10 |
110 – 113 – 130 |
18 – 47 – 76 |
1 – 2.3 – 3 |
23 – 62 – 98 |
0.8 – 1.5 |
4.5 |
314 |
10 – 15 |
110 – 116 – 130 |
21 – 51 – 80 |
1 – 2.3 – 4 |
29 – 67 – 145 |
0.8 – 1.5 |
4.8 |
351 |
1 – 5 |
110 – 110 – 110 |
18 – 36 – 52 |
2 – 3.2 – 6 |
19 – 63 – 221 |
1 – 1.5 |
3.8 |
221 |
5 – 10 |
110 – 120 – 130 |
22 – 50 – 85 |
2 – 3.7 – 7 |
39 – 82 – 162 |
0.8 – 1.5 |
5.4 |
487 |
10 – 15 |
110 – 120 – 130 |
26 – 49 �89 |
2 – 3.7 – 7 |
48 – 101 – 240 |
0.8 – 1.5 |
5.8 |
656 |
Table 4. Acquisitions parameters and ours DRL CI of paediatric CT examinations of the abdomen-pelvis based by age group of children.
CI for abdomenpelvis
Abdominal Pain
Ileus
Adrenal Neuroblastoma
Age group( Years)
Tube voltage( kV)
Tube charge( mAs)
Number of series Explored length( cm) Pitch Our study
Min-Mean-Max |
Min-Mean-Max |
Min-Mean-Max |
Min-Mean-Max |
Min-Max |
P75CTDI vol |
|
|
|
|
|
( mGy) |
P75DLP( mGy)
1 – 5 |
110 – 110 – 110 |
36 – 57 – 82 |
1 – 1.5 – 4 |
20 – 53 – 133 |
1.3 – 1.3 |
5.1 |
316 |
5 – 10 |
110 – 115 – 130 |
36 – 65 – 94 |
1 – 2-4 |
25 – 85 – 199 |
0.8 – 1.3 |
5.3 |
616 |
10 – 15 |
110 – 119 – 130 |
28 – 76 – 112 |
1 – 1.9 – 4 |
27 – 92 – 201 |
0.8 – 1.3 |
7.3 |
623 |
1 – 5 |
110 – 110 – 110 |
26 – 54 – 76 |
2 – 3.8 – 5 |
64 – 117 – 177 |
1.3 – 1.3 |
4.6 |
586 |
5 – 10 |
110 – 114 – 130 |
32 – 69 – 91 |
1 – 3.2 – 5 |
41 – 146 – 253 |
0.8 – 1.3 |
5.4 |
896 |
10 – 15 |
110 – 119 – 130 |
30 – 75 – 170 |
1 – 3.3 – 5 |
50 – 148 – 247 |
0.8 – 1.3 |
7.7 |
1167 |
1 – 5 |
110 – 110 – 110 |
33 – 63 – 95 |
3 – 3.9 – 5 |
90 – 146 – 217 |
1.3 – 1.5 |
4.9 |
788 |
5 – 10 |
110 – 114 – 130 |
31 – 73 – 107 |
3 – 4-6 |
108 – 184 – 291 |
0.8 – 1.5 |
5.7 |
1082 |
10 – 15 |
110 – 118 – 130 |
37 – 90 – 175 |
3 – 4-6 |
95 – 192 – 282 |
0.8 – 1.5 |
8.1 |
1654 |
( Joseph Zira et al., 2021) in Nigeria, Wagner( Wagner et al., 2018) in Switzerland, and Järvinen( Järvinen et al., 2015) in Finland align with the results of the Kruskal-Wallis test for head CT indications. These studies showed a significant difference between CTDI vol and DLP doses for CI in the head CT. Different professionals use distinct protocols and CT technical parameters, which causes the doses to be spread out unevenly. This is mostly seen for the " cellulite and tumor / mass " indications. ln contrast, for the chest, abdominal, and CAP CTs, the findings of the statistical tests show a nonsignificant difference in CTDIvol( p > 0.0 1) and a statistically significant difference in DLP between clinical CT indications( p < 0.01) for all groups of children. Whereas, Järvinen( Järvinen et al., 2015) observed no significant difference in CTDI vol and DLP doses between CI in any of the anatomical regions examined.
The differences observed in the diagnostic reference levels, in terms of DLP, between the CI analysed are mainly due to variations in the duration and number of series prescribed for each protocol. They are also due to the repetition of failed series because of the absence of appropriate restraint devices for agitated children and the programming of adult protocols for children. For all the indications examined, the increase in CTDIvol and DLP with age can be attributed to the growth of children and the adjustment of parameters according to age and height.
4.1 Comparison of DRL CI with international standards
The 3th quartiles statistics for the CI in this exercise were compared with similar data from European surveys( Järvinen et al., 2015; Granata et al., 2015; Wagner et al., 2018; Celier et al., 2020) and the African study( Joseph Zira et al., 2021), as presented in Tables 6 and 7.
For head CT scans indicated for trauma, the DRLs of CTDI vol and DPL are generally lower than those established in Nigeria( Joseph Zira et al., 2021), Switzerland( Wagner et al., 2018), and Italy( Granata et al., 2015) across all paediatric age groups. Additionally, the DRLs of CTDI vol for other head indications are also lower than those reported in Nigeria( Joseph Zira et al., 2021), except for the age group of 10-15 years concerning cellulitis and hydrocephalus indications. The values observed for the tumour, cellulitis, and hydrocephalus