PURPOSE:

We aimed to evaluate the use of a dose monitoring program for calculating and comparing the diagnostic radiation doses in pediatric patients with neuroblastoma.

METHODS:

We retrospectively reviewed diagnostic and therapeutic imaging studies performed on pediatric patients with neuroblastoma from 2003 to 2014. We calculated the mean effective dose per exam for X-ray, conventional computed tomography (CT), and CT of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) from the data collected using a dose monitoring program (DoseTrack group) since October 2012. Using the data, we estimated the cumulative dose per person and the relative dose from each modality in all patients (Total group). The effective dose from PET was manually calculated for all patients.

RESULTS:

We included 63 patients with a mean age of 3.2±3.5 years; 28 had a history of radiation therapy, with a mean irradiated dose of 31.9±23.2 Gy. The mean effective dose per exam was 0.04±0.19 mSv for X-ray, 1.09±1.11 mSv for CT, and 8.35±7.45 mSv for CT of PET/CT in 31 patients of the DoseTrack group. The mean estimated cumulative dose per patient in the Total group was 3.43±2.86 mSv from X-ray (8.5%), 7.66±6.09 mSv from CT (19.1%), 18.35±13.52 mSv from CT of PET/CT (45.7%), and 10.71±10.05 mSv from PET (26.7%).

CONCLUSION:

CT of PET/CT contributed nearly half of the total cumulative dose in pediatric patients with neuroblastoma. The radiation dose from X-ray was not negligible because of the large number of X-ray images. A dose monitoring program can be useful for calculating radiation doses in patients with cancer.