Radioprotection 2024 , 59 ( 2 ), 123 – 130 © SFRP , 2024 https :// doi . org / 10.1051 / radiopro / 2024007 Available online at : www . radioprotection . org
ARTICLE
Radiation risk during thoracic CT scan for diagnostic and radiotherapy planning procedures in Hassan II , Hospital , Agadir Morocco
S . Semghouli 1 ,* , M . El Fahssi 2 , A . Choukri 3 and B . Amaoui 4
1 Team Health Techniques ( ETechS ), Research Laboratory in Health and Environmental Sciences ( LabReSSE ), Higher Institute of Nursing Professions and Health Techniques ( ISPITS ), Agadir , Morocco . 2 Mohammed V University , Faculty of Medicine & Pharmacy , Rabat , Morocco . 3 Ibn Tofail University , Faculty of Science , Kénitra , Morocco . 4 Biotechnology and Medicine ( BioMed ) Laboratory , Faculty of Medicine & Pharmacy , Ibn Zohr University , Agadir , Morocco .
Received : 7 November 2023 / Accepted : 29 February 2024
Abstract – Objective : This study aims to establish diagnostic reference levels and radiation-induced risk for the diagnostic CT-scans and the radiotherapy planning CT-scans of the thorax in the regional hospital of Agadir , Morocco . Materials and methods : Data from two groups of patients undergoing thoracic CT-scans with either diagnostic CT-scans ( G1 , n = 120 ) or radiotherapy planning CT-scans ( G2 , n = 120 ) are collected . All acquisitions were helical . DRLs is calculated for each type of thoracic CT-scan by estimating the 75 % percentile of the CTDIvol and the DLP . The total cancer risk RC was calculated according to the ICRP publication 103 . The data are statistically analyzed by SPSS Statistics V21.0 . The student ’ s t-test was used to establish the relationship between gender , clinical indication , and effective dose . The Spearman test was used to establish the relationship between age , BMI , and effective dose . Results : DRLs in terms of CTDI vol and DLP for radiotherapy planning of thorax were 19.37 mGy and 851.9 mGy cm , respectively . In diagnostic CT-scans , DRLs in terms of CTDI vol for pulmonary embolism , infectious lung disease , Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ( COPD ) were 11.13 mGy , 10.26 mGy , and 7.37 mGy respectively , and DRLs in terms of DLP were 417.73 mGy cm , 451.9 mGy cm and 317.78 mGy cm respectively . The cancer risk for radiotherapy planning CT-scans is ranged between 209 and 1564 with a mean value of 715 per 1 million of CT-scan . For diagnostic CT-scans , the cancer risk is ranged between 199 and 626 with a mean value of 357 per 1 million for pulmonary embolism , between 238 and 668 with a mean value of 369 per 1 million for infectious lung disease , and between 130 and 393 with a mean value of 244 per 1 million for COPD . Conclusion : Optimizing the doses received by patients in medical imaging , particularly CT , has become an obligation . Reviewing practices and procedures and promoting a radiation protection culture can help to better manage the radiation doses received by the patient .
Keywords : CT scan / CTDI vol / DLP / effective dose / cancer risk / thorax procedure
1 Introduction
Computed tomography ( CT ) has become an essential imaging modality in clinical practice . This was the first noninvasive technique to provide images of the internal structures of the human body that are not influenced by the superimposition of distinct anatomical features ( Buzug , 2008 ). CT images
* Corresponding author : ssemghouli @ gmail . com used in radiotherapy treatment planning allow precise identification of the location of the tumour as well as surrounding healthy tissue and organs at risk , with a high level of geometric accuracy . In addition , these images provide a complete representation of the electron density of various tissues . This information is crucial for dose calculation in the Treatment Planning System ( TPS ) ( Davis et al ., 2017 ). In the case of CT , the dose received by the patient can be considerably higher than that received using other imaging techniques . The main reason for this excessive dose is often