Radiation dose management in thoracic CT: an international survey

RESULTS Of the 800 radiologists, 146 responded to our survey. Nearly half (66/146, 45% [95% confidence interval, 37%–53%]) had no formal training in dose reduction, with “self-study of the literature” being the most common form of training (54/146, 37% [29%–45%]). One hundred and seventeen (80% [74%–87%]) had automatic exposure control, and 76 (65% [56%–74%]) used it in all patients. Notably, most respondents (89% [84%–94%]) used a 120 to 125 kVp standard setting, whereas none used 140 kVp. The most common average dose-length-product (DLP) value was 150 to 249 mGy.cm (75/146, 51% [43%–59%]), and 59% (51%–67%) delivered less than 250 mGy.cm in a 70 kg patient. There was a tendency towards higher DLP values with multidetector-row CT. Age, gender, and pregnancy were associated more with dose reduction than weight and clinical indication.