A. Boulanouar et al.: Radioprotection 2025, 60( 4), 297 – 305 303
Table 7. Comparison of our DRL CI of paediatric chest and abdomen-pelvis CT examinations with equivalent data from previous studies.
CI of chest CT
Bronchiectasis / bronchitis
Pneumonia
Congenital malformation
CI of abdomenpelvis CT
Adrenal neuroblastoma
Age group( Years) P75 CTDI vol( mGy)
Our study France( Célier et al., 2020) Italy( Granata et al., 2015)
P75 DLP( mGy. cm)
P75 CTDI vol( mGy)
P 75 DLP( mGy. cm)
P75 CTDI vol( mGy)
P75 DLP( mGy. cm)
1 – 5 |
3.7 |
119 |
1.4 |
30 |
2.5 |
77.3 |
5 – 10 |
4.7 |
253 |
1.5 |
41 |
3.8 |
113 |
10 – 15 |
5.1 |
238 |
– |
– |
6.6 |
203 |
1 – 5 |
3.8 |
193 |
1.3 |
27 |
2.5 |
77.3 |
5 – 10 |
4.5 |
314 |
1.4 |
40 |
3.8 |
113 |
10 – 15 |
4.8 |
351 |
– |
– |
6.6 |
203 |
1 – 5 |
3.8 |
221 |
1.4 |
33 |
– |
– |
5 – 10 |
5.4 |
487 |
1.5 |
44 |
– |
– |
10 – 15 |
5.8 |
656 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
1 – 5 |
4.9 |
788 |
1.8 |
70 |
5.7 |
193 |
5 – 10 |
5.7 |
1082 |
2.4 |
98 |
7 |
392 |
10 – 15 |
8.1 |
1654 |
3.8 |
180 |
14 |
703 |
phy was challenging. Some groups of children have shown varying DRL CI results in the paediatric CT dosimetry literature. This inconsistency is particularly evident for the two abdominalpelvic CT indications related to abdominal pain and ileus, as well as the three CT indications for the chest. Additionally, the research conducted in France by Célier( Célier et al., 2020) regarding indications for chest and abdomen-pelvis CT did not include children in the 10 to 15-year age range. Oneof thestudy’ s intrinsic limitations is that we were unable to account for the weight of the children involved.
5 Conclusion
This monocentric survey established new diagnostic reference levels for paediatric computed tomography examinations based on clinical indications, marking the first instance of such a study in Morocco at the Mohammed VI University Hospital Centre in Marrakech.
The results revealed a significant variation( p < 0.01) in CTDI vol and DLP among all clinical indications for head CT. In contrast, for chest, abdomen-pelvis, and chest-abdomen-pelvis CT indications, the variations in CTDI vol were not significant( p > 0.01), while the variations in DLP were significant( p < 0.01). These findings underscore the importance of tailoring CT examination protocols to specific clinical indications.
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our gratitude to the radiologists and radiology technicians of the mother and child hospital of the Mohammed VI University Hospital Centre in Marrakech( Morocco) for their help in data collection.
Funding This research did not receive any specific funding.
Conflicts of interest
There is no conflict of interest for this paper.
Author contribution statement
A. Boulanouar: Statistics preparation, Methodology, A. Tounsi: Supervision Conceptualization, Visualization, H. Khajmi: Investigation, Writing- Reviewing and Editing. H. Jalal: Investigation, Verification.
Ethics approval
This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Mohammed IV UHC in Marrakech in 2024.
Informed consent
This article does not contain any studies involving human subjects.
References
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Benmessaoud M, Dadouch A, Maghnouj A, Lemmassi A, Ouaggou IA, Ouhadda H, El-Ouardi Y. 2023. Local diagnostic reference levels for paediatric chest computed tomography in Morocco. Radiation Phys Chem 206: 110794. https:// doi. org / 10.1016 / j. radphyschem. 2023.110794
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