Performance and reliability assessment of a lower dose, task-based scoliosis radiography protocol in pediatric patients.
Pediatr Radiol
; 54(1): 146-153, 2024 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38010426
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Follow-up scoliosis radiographs are performed to assess the degree of spinal curvature and skeletal maturity, which can be done at lower radiation exposures than those in standard-dose radiography.OBJECTIVE:
Describe and evaluate a protocol that reduced the radiation in follow-up frontal-view scoliosis radiographs. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
We implemented a postero-anterior lower dose modified-technique for scoliosis radiography with task-based definition of adequate image quality and use of technique charts based on target exposure index and patient's height and weight. We subsequently retrospectively evaluated 40 consecutive patients who underwent a follow-up radiograph using the modified-technique after an initial standard-technique radiograph. We evaluated comparisons of proportions for subjective assessment with chi-squared tests, and agreements of reader's scores with intraclass correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plots. We determined incident air kerma, exposure index, deviation index/standard deviation, dose-area product (DAP), and effective dose for each radiograph. We set statistical significance at P<0.05.RESULTS:
Forty patients (65% female), aged 4-17 years. Median effective dose was reduced from 39 to 10 µSv (P<0.001), incident air kerma from 139 to 29 µSv (P<0.001), and DAP from 266 to 55 mGy*cm2 (P<0.001). All modified-technique parameters were rated with a mean score of acceptable or above. All modified-technique measurements obtained inter- and intra-observer correlation coefficient agreements of 0.86 ("Good") or greater.CONCLUSION:
Substantial dose reduction on follow-up scoliosis imaging with existing radiography units is achievable through task-based definition of adequate image quality and tailoring of radiation to each patient's height and weight, while still allowing for reliable assessment and reproducible measurements.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Escoliosis
Límite:
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Pediatr Radiol
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos