Eur J Radiol. 2025 Jul 28;191:112342. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2025.112342. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Computed tomography angiography (CTA) is a widely used diagnostic tool, but concerns about radiation exposure necessitate accurate dose estimation. This study investigates the correlation between Effective Dose (ED) and Size-Specific Dose Estimate (SSDE) estimated from the patient’s body mass index (BMI) in CTA to evaluate the utility of SSDE-BMI as a patient-specific dosimetry parameter.
METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 422 adult patients (226 males and 196 females) with an average age of 51.28 years undergoing Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA) was conducted. Two values of ED were derived (ED103 and EDDLP derived using the dose-length product (DLP) and ICRP conversion factors), while the two values of SSDEBMI were calculated from the volume-computed tomography dose index (CTDIvol) and the patient’s BMI.
RESULTS: Overall, statistical analysis revealed a strong positive correlation between ED103 and SSDEBMIs, significantly stronger than correlations between traditional metrics EDDLP and SSDEBMI. A highly significant correlation between these two dose indices was observed across various patients’ BMI and gender. The highest correlation was reported for Obese Class II female patients, which is attributed to proportional dose adjustments made to compensate for increased X-ray attenuation.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore SSDEs’ importance in personalized radiation risk assessment and protocol optimization. This supports the use of SSDEBMI as a reliable, patient-specific dose metric in radiation protection strategies for CCTA.
PMID:40749323 | DOI:10.1016/j.ejrad.2025.112342
