Effective Radiation Dosages in 3D Rotational Angiography in Children

Background: Three-dimensional rotational angiography (3DRA) is a relatively new but promising imaging technique in the pediatric catheterization laboratory. However, data on the effective dose (E) of this technique are lacking, since they are very time consuming to obtain. The purpose of our study is to provide E of 3DRA and to correlate Ed to parameters readily available in daily practice.

Methods and Results: Effective doses were calculated in 14 patients who underwent a total of 17 3DRA's at our pediatric catheterization laboratory using Monte Carlo PCXMC 2.0. Median age was 5.7 years (range, 1 day-16.6 years). Median Ed was 1.6 mSv (range, 0.7 – 4.9). E did not correlate to age and BSA but did correlate to dose area product (DAP) and to milliGray (mGy) with a r-square of 0.8341.

Conclusion: The median E of 3DRA in children is 1.6 mSv and seems to be age and BSA independent. Ed correlated to DAP and mGy in our population.