Establishing national clinical diagnostic reference levels and achievable doses for CT examinations in Brazil: A prospective study.

Purpose: Diagnostic reference levels (DRL) and achievable doses (AD) are important tools for radiation dose optimization. Therefore, a prospective study was performed which aimed to establish a multi-parametric, clinical indication based - DRL(DRL) and clinical indication - AD (AD) for adult CT in Brazil.

Methods: The prospective study included 4787 patients (50 ± 18 years old; male:female 2041:2746) at 13 Brazilian sites that have been submitted to head, paranasal sinus, cervical spine, chest, or abdomen-pelvis CT between January and October 2021 for 13 clinical indications.

CHEST CT USAGE IN COVID-19 PNEUMONIA: MULTICENTER STUDY ON RADIATION DOSES AND DIAGNOSTIC QUALITY IN BRAZIL.

We assessed variations in chest CT usage, radiation dose and image quality in COVID-19 pneumonia. Our study included all chest CT exams performed in 533 patients from 6 healthcare sites from Brazil. We recorded patients' age, gender and body weight and the information number of CT exams per patient, scan parameters and radiation doses (volume CT dose index-CTDIvol and dose length product-DLP).

PRACTICAL CHALLENGES WITH IMAGING COVID-19 IN BRAZIL: MITIGATION IN AND BEYOND THE PANDEMIC.

Unlabelled: Computed tomography (CT) provides useful information in patients with known or suspected COVID-19 infection. However, there are substantial variations and challenges in scanner technologies and scan practices that have negative effect on the image quality and can increase radiation dose associated with CT.

Objective: In this article, we present major issues and challenges with use of CT at five Brazilian CT facilities for imaging patients with known or suspected COVID-19 infection and offer specific mitigating strategies.