%0 Journal Article
%T Clinical Question Influence on Radiation Dose of Cardiac CT Scan in Children.
%A Adla T
%A Kočí M
%A Suchánek V
%A Šalagovičová Z
%A Polovinčák M
%A Mikšík L
%A Janoušek J
%A Roček M
%J Children (Basel)
%V 9
%N 8
%D Aug 2022 5
%M 36010062
%F 2.835
%R 10.3390/children9081172
%X Background: To assess the impact of different clinical questions on radiation doses acquired during cardiac computed tomography in children. Methods: A total of 116 children who underwent cardiac CT on a third-generation dual-source CT scanner were included. The clinical questions were divided into three main categories: the extent of scanning in the z-axis, coronary artery assessment and cardiac function assessment. Radiation dose values represented as a dose-length product (DLP) in mGy*cm were recorded from the CT scanner protocols. Results: There were significantly higher doses in cases with cardiac function assessment (median DLP 348 versus 59 mGy*cm, p < 0.01) and in cases with coronary artery assessment (median DLP 133 versus 71 mGy*cm, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The most important factor was the assessment of cardiac function, where the median radiation dose was 4.3× higher in patients with a request for cardiac function assessment. We strongly recommend that clinical requests for cardiac CT should be carefully considered in the paediatric population.