Evaluation of mean glandular dose from mammography screening: A single-center study

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the most common neoplasms among females in the developed world, and it is rapidly increasing in developing countries. X-ray mammography examination is the gold standard for early detection of breast cancer. However, such a procedure also increases the potential risk of radiation-induced carcinogenesis. Thus, assessment of the breast dose from mammography exposure is essential. The main objective of this study was to determine the Mean Glandular Dose (MGD) from craniocaudal (CC) views of mammography screening procedures in King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) hospital in Riyadh and to identify the factors affecting it. The calculations were performed to estimate MGD for 167 female patients who underwent mammography examinations in KFMC. Dance et al. (2000) calculation method was used to estimate the MGD. The selected patients’ ages ranged from 30 to 85 years, and the range of their compressed breast thickness (CBT) was 2–8.6 cm. The average of the calculated MGD for the CC views for the selected patients was 1.17 ± 0.54 mGy, which was significantly different from MGD values in other national studies. There was no correlation between MGD and age. CBT, kVp, and exposure time showed a moderate correlation with MGD. mAs and mA showed the strongest correlation with MGD. Including other mammography views such as mediolateral oblique (MLO), and estimating the cancer risk from mammography exposure should be explored in future studies.