Effective dose estimation during conventional and CT urography

Intravenous urography (IVU) and CT urography (CTU) are efficient radiological examinations for the evaluation of the urinary system disorders. However patients are exposed to a significant radiation dose. The objectives of this study are to: (i) measure and compare patient radiation dose by computed tomography urography (CTU) and conventional intravenous urography (IVU) and (ii) evaluate organ equivalent dose and cancer risks from CTU and IVU imaging procedures. A total of 141 patients were investigated. A calibrated CT machine (Siemens-Somatom Emotion duo) was used for CTU, while a Shimadzu X ray machine was used for IVU. Thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD-GR200A) were used to measure patients' entrance surface doses (ESD). TLDs were calibrated under reproducible reference conditions. Patients radiation dose values (DLP) for CTU were 172±61mGycm, CTDI_vol 4.75±2mGy and effective dose 2.58±1mSv. Patient cancer probabilities were estimated to be 1.4 per million per CTU examination. Patients ESDs values for IVU were 21.62±5mGy, effective dose 1.79±1mSv. CT involves a higher effective dose than IVU. In this study the radiation dose is considered low compared to previous studies. The effective dose from CTU procedures was 30% higher compared to IVU procedures. Wide dose variation between patient doses suggests that optimization is not fulfilled yet.