Conceptus radiation dose and risk from chest screen-film radiography |
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| Authors: | Damilakis John Perisinakis Kostas Prassopoulos Panos Dimovasili Evangelia Varveris Haralambos Gourtsoyiannis Nicholas |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Medical Physics, University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine, P.O. Box 1393, 714 09 Iraklion, Crete, Greece,;(2) Department of Radiology, University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine, P.O. Box 1393, 714 09 Iraklion, Crete, Greece,;(3) Department of Radiotherapy, University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine, P.O. Box 1393, 714 09 Iraklion, Crete, Greece, |
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| Abstract: | The objectives of the present study were to (a) estimate the conceptus radiation dose and risks for pregnant women undergoing
posteroanterior and anteroposterior (AP) chest radiographs, (b) study the conceptus dose as a function of chest thickness
of the patient undergoing chest radiograph, and (c) investigate the possibility of a conceptus to receive a dose of more than
10 mGy, the level above which specific measurements of conceptus doses may be necessary. Thermoluminescent dosimeters were
used for dose measurements in anthropomorphic phantoms simulating pregnancy at the three trimesters of gestation. The effect
of chest thickness on conceptus dose and risk was studied by adding slabs of lucite on the anterior and posterior surface
of the phantom chest. The conceptus risk for radiation-induced childhood fatal cancer and hereditary effects was calculated
based on appropriate risk factors. The average AP chest dimension (da) was estimated for 51 women of childbearing age from chest CT examinations. The value of da was estimated to be 22.3 cm (17.4–27.2 cm). The calculated maximum conceptus dose was 107×10–3 mGy for AP chest radiographs performed during the third trimester of pregnancy with maternal chest thickness of 27.2 cm.
This calculation was based on dose data obtained from measurements in the phantoms and da estimated from the patient group. The corresponding average excess of childhood cancer was 10.7 per million patients. The
risk for hereditary effects was 1.1 per million births. Radiation dose for a conceptus increases exponentially as chest thickness
increases. The conceptus dose at the third trimester is higher than that of the second and first trimesters. The results of
the current study suggest that chest radiographs carried out in women at any time during gestation will result in a negligible
increase in risk of radiation-induced harmful effects to the unborn child. After a properly performed maternal chest X-ray,
there is no need for individual conceptus dose estimations.
Electronic Publication |
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| Keywords: | Fetus Dose Chest Radiation Pregnancy |
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