EFFECTIVE DOSE IN PEDIATRIC INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the effective doses (EDs) to children undergoing pediatric interventional cardiology examinations in hospitals of St.-Petersburg, to calculate associated dose conversion coefficients (DCCs) and to investigate their dependence of different parameters of the various procedures. Basic parameters of pediatric cardiology examinations and patient doses were studied in three main pediatric city hospitals. More than 300 examinations were under consideration. The technical, geometrical and dosimetric parameters, as well as patients' parameters, for each individual procedure were collected. All cardiac examinations were divided into five age groups (newborn, 1, 5, 10 and 15 y old). The EDs and the corresponding DCCs from the dose-area product to ED were calculated using PCXMC 2.0 software and based on the collected data. The study included the evaluation of the relations between the DCCs, patient age and parameters of examinations. The results of the study indicated significant dependence of the DCCs on the patients' age and the beam quality. The DCCs for the newborns and 15-year old groups differed by a factor of 10. The maximum estimated ED of 26mSv was found in the newborn age group.