Optimization of paediatric CT

Abstract

Children have a special place in the hearts of their parents and the same should be true for CT practices too! They have longer life expectancy, more dividing cells which have greater risk potential from radiation exposure. Plus, they can range from less than a kilogram to more than 100 kg with childhood obesity. Younger children also provide additional challenges when they cannot or do not cooperate during CT scanning, which can result in motion artifacts and suboptimal interpretations. These issues demand special attention to details during paediatric CT. The best way to optimize dose for children is to rationalize clinical indications for CT in children. Whenever possible and appropriate, non-ionizing radiation based imaging techniques should be used in children. When CT is appropriately indicated, careful attention must be given to patient positioning and counselling. Several scan techniques can help optimize radiation doses, and these must be liberally employed. Each paediatric CT should be tailored to personalize scan technique, image reconstruction and radiation doses to specific clinical indication, body region, and patient size. In this presentation, we will review strategies to optimize paediatric CT.