Effects of Projections on Radiation Dose for and Image Quality of Chest Digital Radiography for Children.

Background Until now few studies have specially validated whether the sex, body mass index, or imaging projections of pediatric patients undergoing chest digital radiography (DR) affect the radiation dose and image quality. Introduction To investigate the impact of different photography positions on radiation dose for and image quality of chest DR for 3-4-year-old children. Method One-hundred twenty 3-4-year-old patients who required chest DR were included. The patients were divided into 3 groups, with 40 patients in each group: supine anterior-posterior projection (APP), standing APP and posterior-anterior projection (PAP). The dose area product (DAP) and entrance surface dose (ESD) values for every patient were recorded after each exposure. The visual grading analysis score (VGAS) was used to evaluate image quality. Result The DAP and ESD values for the standing PAP and APP groups were significantly lower than those for the supine APP group (0.19 ± 0.04 dGy cm2 and 0.05 ± 0.01 mGy vs 0.25 ± 0.05 dGy cm2 and 0.08 ± 0.01 mGy, P 0.05, respectively). Conclusion The standing PAP should be the first projection choice for chest DR for 3-4-year-old children; compared with the supine and standing APP, the standing PAP may improve image quality and decrease the required radiation dose.