Retrospective Study
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World J Radiol. May 28, 2014; 6(5): 210-217
Published online May 28, 2014. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v6.i5.210
Size-specific dose estimates: Localizer or transverse abdominal computed tomography images?
Sarvenaz Pourjabbar, Sarabjeet Singh, Atul Padole, Akshay Saini, Michael A Blake, Mannudeep K Kalra
Sarvenaz Pourjabbar, Sarabjeet Singh, Atul Padole, Akshay Saini, Michael A Blake, Mannudeep K Kalra, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, United States
Author contributions: Kalra MK designed the research; Pourjabbar S performed the research; Pourjabbar S, Padole A and Saini A analyzed the data; Pourjabbar S, Singh S, Blake MA and Kalra MK wrote the paper.
Correspondence to: Sarvenaz Pourjabbar, MD, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Founders Room 202, Boston, MA 02114, United States. spourjabbar@partners.org
Telephone: +1-617-6434583 Fax: +1-617-6430111
Received: November 8, 2013
Revised: April 17, 2014
Accepted: May 8, 2014
Published online: May 28, 2014
Processing time: 201 Days and 13.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) report 204 has proposed a new method, “Size specific dose estimate” (SSDE) to represent more accurate estimations of patient doses. In this study we evaluated the feasibility of SSDE in clinical setting and figured out the shortcomings of the technique. We measured diameters in 50 patients at every 5 cm interval in addition to the maximum, minimum and mid-location on both localizer radiograph and transverse computed tomography (CT) images. SSDE values were calculated based on AAPM report look-up tables. Obtained SSDE values at each level were compared to each other as well as to CT dose index volume.