Establishment of CT diagnostic reference levels in Ireland
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To propose Irish CT diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) by collecting radiation doses for the most commonly performed CT examinations. METHODS: A pilot study investigated the most frequent CT examinations. 40 CT sites were then asked to complete a survey booklet to allow the recording of CT parameters for each of 9 CT examinations during a 12-week period. Dose data [CT volume index (CTDI(vol)) and dose-length product (DLP)] on a minimum of 10 average-sized patients in each category were recorded to calculate a mean site CTDI(vol) and DLP value. The rounded 75th percentile was used to calculate a DRL for each site and the country by compiling all results. RESULTS: are compared with international DRL data. Results Data were collected for 3305 patients. 30 sites responded with data for 34 scanners, representing 54% of the national total. All equipment had multislice capability (2-128 slices). DRLs are proposed using CTDI(vol) (mGy) and DLP (mGy cm) for CT head (66/58 and 940, respectively), sinuses (16 and 210, respectively), cervical spine (19 and 420, respectively), thorax (9/11 and 390, respectively), high resolution CT (7 and 280, respectively), CT pulmonary angiography (13 and 430, respectively), multiphase abdomen (13 and 1120, respectively), routine abdomen/pelvis (12 and 600, respectively) and trunk examinations (10/12 and 850, respectively). These values are lower than current DRLs and comparable to other international studies. Wide variations in mean doses are noted across sites. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline figures for Irish CT DRLs are provided on the most frequently performed CT examinations. The variations in dose between CT departments as well as between identical scanners suggest a large potential for optimisation of examinations.
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The use of multidetector-row CT is believed to pose a potential risk of cancer and other radiation-related effects.
“its use is believed to pose a potential risk of cancer and other radiation-related effects. 2 3”
From Establishing Diagnostic Reference Level for Adult Abdomen and Pelvis CT Scans: A Benchmarking Study across BMI Groups (2026) · cites this paper as [3]
The Abstract states that CT involves relatively high radiation doses and a corresponding increased risk of carcinogenesis. It also reports that the surveyed scanners had multislice capability. The paper does not identify other radiation-related health effects, so that part of the claim is not supported by our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThis wide range of values is in line with some data published in Ireland.
“This is in line with some data published in Ireland.12”
From Establishment of institutional diagnostic reference level for computed tomography with automated dose-tracking software (2017) · cites this paper as [12]
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- Authors
- Foley, S. J., McEntee, M. F., & Rainford, L. A.
- Affiliations
- University College Dublin (IE)
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Venue
- The British Journal of Radiology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2012-10
- Volume
- 85
- Issue
- 1018
- Pages
- 1390-1397
- ISSN
- 0007-1285 (ISSN-L)
- 1748-880X
- PMC
- PMC3474022
- OpenAlex
- W2035839552
- Cited by
- 186
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 5.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- British Journal of Radiology (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Repository UCD (University College Dublin) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Arrow@dit (Dublin Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Radiation Dose and Imaging
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Radiation › Advanced Radiotherapy Techniques
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Radiology practices and education
- Keywords
- radiation dose, dose-length product, CT pulmonary angiography, multidetector computed tomography, dose optimization, Ireland
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Ireland, Pilot Projects, Radiation Dosage, Reference Values, Tomography, X-Ray Computed
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