Paediatric computed tomography diagnostic reference levels in Africa: A systematic review

Abstract Introduction Improvements in computed tomography (CT) technology in terms of image quality and reduction in absorbed dose have increased its applications in medical imaging. Diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) help to identify high radiation doses that are unusually delivered to patients und...

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Main Authors: Emmanuel Gyan, Christiana Subaar, George Edusei, Linda Antwi Nyarko
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-03-01
Series:Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/jmrs.824
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author Emmanuel Gyan
Christiana Subaar
George Edusei
Linda Antwi Nyarko
author_facet Emmanuel Gyan
Christiana Subaar
George Edusei
Linda Antwi Nyarko
author_sort Emmanuel Gyan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Introduction Improvements in computed tomography (CT) technology in terms of image quality and reduction in absorbed dose have increased its applications in medical imaging. Diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) help to identify high radiation doses that are unusually delivered to patients undergoing exposure to ionising radiation. The aim of this review was to provide an overview of published studies by African researchers towards establishing paediatric CT DRLs in Africa. Methods The search for articles was conducted using some relevant literature search engines including PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar and Web of Science. Two reviewers were involved in the article selection process which involved a three‐stage screening process of identifying; article titles, abstracts and full‐test reading. Results One hundred and seventy‐four articles were identified from the database, PubMed (30), Scopus (21), Google Scholar (53), Web of Science (25) and Science Direct (45). Fifty duplicated articles were excluded before screening. Twelve peer‐reviewed articles were included in this study based on the inclusion criteria. DRL values in terms of computed tomography dose index volume of head for the age groupings 0–1, 1–5, 5–10 and 10–15 were 27, 36.6, 39.5 and 47.5 mGy while the dose length product values were 461.6, 664, 872 and 978 mGy.cm respectively. The DRLs were calculated as 75th percentile of the local DRLs reported by the 12 articles included in this review. Conclusion This review has shown that only few of the African countries (19%) have published studies on paediatric CT DRLs. There were variations in the DRLs published by the various authors which indicate that harmonisation and standardisation of paediatric CT protocols is essential for the optimisation of paediatric doses.
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spelling doaj-art-e6dba24ff72d4a66bec87e5e8372c2ba2025-08-20T02:53:30ZengWileyJournal of Medical Radiation Sciences2051-38952051-39092025-03-0172113914710.1002/jmrs.824Paediatric computed tomography diagnostic reference levels in Africa: A systematic reviewEmmanuel Gyan0Christiana Subaar1George Edusei2Linda Antwi Nyarko3Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences Sunyani Technical University Sunyani GhanaDepartment of Physics, College of Science, Faculty of Physical and Computational Sciences Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kumasi GhanaUniversity of Environment and Sustainable Development Somanya GhanaDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences Sunyani Technical University Sunyani GhanaAbstract Introduction Improvements in computed tomography (CT) technology in terms of image quality and reduction in absorbed dose have increased its applications in medical imaging. Diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) help to identify high radiation doses that are unusually delivered to patients undergoing exposure to ionising radiation. The aim of this review was to provide an overview of published studies by African researchers towards establishing paediatric CT DRLs in Africa. Methods The search for articles was conducted using some relevant literature search engines including PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar and Web of Science. Two reviewers were involved in the article selection process which involved a three‐stage screening process of identifying; article titles, abstracts and full‐test reading. Results One hundred and seventy‐four articles were identified from the database, PubMed (30), Scopus (21), Google Scholar (53), Web of Science (25) and Science Direct (45). Fifty duplicated articles were excluded before screening. Twelve peer‐reviewed articles were included in this study based on the inclusion criteria. DRL values in terms of computed tomography dose index volume of head for the age groupings 0–1, 1–5, 5–10 and 10–15 were 27, 36.6, 39.5 and 47.5 mGy while the dose length product values were 461.6, 664, 872 and 978 mGy.cm respectively. The DRLs were calculated as 75th percentile of the local DRLs reported by the 12 articles included in this review. Conclusion This review has shown that only few of the African countries (19%) have published studies on paediatric CT DRLs. There were variations in the DRLs published by the various authors which indicate that harmonisation and standardisation of paediatric CT protocols is essential for the optimisation of paediatric doses.https://doi.org/10.1002/jmrs.824Computeddiagnosticdosepaediatricreferencetomography
spellingShingle Emmanuel Gyan
Christiana Subaar
George Edusei
Linda Antwi Nyarko
Paediatric computed tomography diagnostic reference levels in Africa: A systematic review
Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences
Computed
diagnostic
dose
paediatric
reference
tomography
title Paediatric computed tomography diagnostic reference levels in Africa: A systematic review
title_full Paediatric computed tomography diagnostic reference levels in Africa: A systematic review
title_fullStr Paediatric computed tomography diagnostic reference levels in Africa: A systematic review
title_full_unstemmed Paediatric computed tomography diagnostic reference levels in Africa: A systematic review
title_short Paediatric computed tomography diagnostic reference levels in Africa: A systematic review
title_sort paediatric computed tomography diagnostic reference levels in africa a systematic review
topic Computed
diagnostic
dose
paediatric
reference
tomography
url https://doi.org/10.1002/jmrs.824
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AT christianasubaar paediatriccomputedtomographydiagnosticreferencelevelsinafricaasystematicreview
AT georgeedusei paediatriccomputedtomographydiagnosticreferencelevelsinafricaasystematicreview
AT lindaantwinyarko paediatriccomputedtomographydiagnosticreferencelevelsinafricaasystematicreview