<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_raon-2020-0044_s_005_w2aab3b7c85b1b6b1aab1c16b1Aa"><h3>Background</h3><p>Female breasts are exposed to scattered radiation regardless of not being included in the primary field during head CT. This study aimed to investigate whether the use of lead shielding is beneficial in dose reduction to the breasts during head CT.</p></sec><sec id="j_raon-2020-0044_s_006_w2aab3b7c85b1b6b1aab1c16b2Aa"><h3>Patients and methods</h3><p>The study was performed in two different hospitals on two different CT units and included 120 patients. Half of the measurements (n = 60) was conducted without the use of lead shielding and the other half (n = 60) with the use of lead shielding of 0.5 mm equivalent thickness.</p></sec><sec id="j_raon-2020-0044_s_007_w2aab3b7c85b1b6b1aab1c16b3Aa"><h3>Results</h3><p>Significant skin dose reduction to the breasts during head CT in both hospitals with the use of lead shielding was discovered; 81% (338.2 ± 43.7 μGy to 64.3 ± 18.8 μGy) in Hospital A and 74% (from 253.1 ± 35.1 μGy to 65.3 ± 16.9 μGy) in Hospital B.</p></sec><sec id="j_raon-2020-0044_s_008_w2aab3b7c85b1b6b1aab1c16b4Aa"><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Considering the assumed carcinogenic effect of low doses of radiation, high frequency of the head CT scans and the significant reduction of radiation doses to the highly radiosensitive breasts, the use of lead shielding is highly recommendable.</p></sec></abstract>

BackgroundFemale breasts are exposed to scattered radiation regardless of not being included in the primary field during head CT. This study aimed to investigate whether the use of lead shielding is beneficial in dose reduction to the breasts during head CT.Patients and methodsThe study was performed in two different hospitals on two different CT units and included 120 patients. Half of the measurements (n = 60) was conducted without the use of lead shielding and the other half (n = 60) with the use of lead shielding of 0.5 mm equivalent thickness.ResultsSignificant skin dose reduction to the breasts during head CT in both hospitals with the use of lead shielding was discovered; 81% (338.2 ± 43.7 μGy to 64.3 ± 18.8 μGy) in Hospital A and 74% (from 253.1 ± 35.1 μGy to 65.3 ± 16.9 μGy) in Hospital B.ConclusionsConsidering the assumed carcinogenic effect of low doses of radiation, high frequency of the head CT scans and the significant reduction of radiation doses to the highly radiosensitive breasts, the use of lead shielding is highly recommendable.

Efficacy of breast shielding during head computed tomography examination

Radiology and Oncology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Efficacy of breast shielding during head computed tomography examination"}

BackgroundFemale breasts are exposed to scattered radiation regardless of not being included in the primary field during head CT. This study aimed to...

Efficacy of breast shielding during head computed tomography examination

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Aug 01, 2020

Page range: 116 - 120

Received: May 20, 2020

Accepted: Jun 16, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2020-0044

© 2021 Nika Zalokar, Nejc Mekis, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.