Dear colleagues, Thank you for your previous interest in the online webinars organized by the IAEA Radiation Protection of Patients Unit (RPOP). We would like to invite you to join us for our next webinar, which will be held online on Wednesday, 27th April 2022, at 5pm CET (Vienna time) in English. The webinar will present the recently developed diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) and achievable doses (ADs) for the 10 most commonly performed pediatric computed tomography (CT) examinations in the United States. Data from these examinations acquired between 2016 and 2020 from 1637 facilities were analysed, using the American College of Radiology (ACR) CT Dose Index Registry. For the head, neck and extremity examinations, doses were analysed based on a patient age. For body examinations, doses were analysed based on both patient age and patient effective diameter calculated from the images to represent patient size. Data from over 1.5 million pediatric examinations were used to propose DRL and AD values for the computed tomography dose index (CTDIvol), dose length product (DLP) and size-specific dose estimate (SSDE). ADs and DRLs for both CTDIvol and DLP for all examinations generally increased as a function of age and a patient effective diameter. Although international pediatric DRL methodology and results vary, the US results fall within the ranges reported across other countries. These determinations can serve as practical benchmarks for accountability and for improvement in pediatric CT practice. We look forward to seeing you. RPOP team |