engleski

Efficacy of breast shielding during CT of the head.

The advent of modern CT scanners has lead to a significant increase in radiation dose to the patient per head scan. Aims: The study was designed to measure radiation exposure the breasts during head CT examination and to evaluate the efficacy of breast shielding with a leaded apron. Material and methods: 49 women underwent routine head CT with one breast covered with lead apron of 0.35 mmPb equivalent, and the other breast unshielded. Radiation doses over the both breasts were measured with a thermoluminescent dosimeter. The amount of radiation at the skin of the shielded breast was then compared with that at the skin of the nonshielded breast. Results: The average radiation level at the skin of the shielded breast was 0.12 mSv (range, 0.05-0.29) compared with 0.28 mSv (range 0.15-0.41) at the unshielded breasts. The radiation exposure was by an average of 2.62 (range 1.055-8) times lower with lead protection. Conclusion: Althoug the level of scatter radiation to the breast is generally low during head CT, use of lead cover can further reduce the exposure, and can be beneficial in protection of radiosensitive breast parenchyma.

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