Size-Specific Dose Estimates of Radiation Based on Body Weight and Body Mass Index for Chest and Abdomen-Pelvic CTs

Background To correlate body weight, body mass index (BMI), and water-equivalent diameter (dw) and to assess size-specific dose estimates (SSDEs) based on body weight and BMI for chest and abdomen-pelvic CT examinations. Methods An in-house program was used to calculate dw, size-dependent conversion factor (f), and SSDE for 1178 consecutive patients undergoing chest and abdomen-pelvic CT examinations. Associations among body weight, BMI, and dw were determined, and linear equations were generated using linear regression analysis of the first 50% of the patient population. SSDEs (SSDEweight and SSDEBMI) were calculated based on body weight and BMI as dw surrogates on the second 50% of the patient population. Mean root-mean-square errors of SSDEweight and SSDEBMI were computed with SSDE from the axial images as reference values. Results Both body weight and BMI correlated strongly with dw for the chest (r = 0.85, 0.87, all p < 0.001) and abdomen-pelvis (r = 0.85, 0.86, all p < 0.001). Mean values of SSDEweight and SSDEBMI based on the linear equations for body weight, BMI, and dw were in close agreement with SSDE from the axial images, with overall mean root-mean-square errors of 0.62 mGy (6.10%) and 0.57 mGy (5.65%), for chest, and 0.76 mGy (5.61%) and 0.71 mGy (5.22%), for abdomen-pelvis, respectively. Conclusions Both body weight and BMI, serving as dw surrogates, can be used to calculate SSDEs in the chest and abdomen-pelvis CT examinations, providing values comparable to SSDEs from the axial images, with an overall mean root-mean-square error of less than 0.76 mGy or 6.10%.