Radiation Doses and Risk Assessment during Computed Tomography of the Chest in COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

Accounting for the effective dose (ED, mSv) and calculating the radiation risk during CT is necessary to predict the long-term consequences of radiation exposure on the population. We analyzed the results of 1003 CT examinations of the chest in patients with suspected COVID-19 in the city diagnostic center. The average ED and confidence intervals (p ≤ 0.05) for patients with a single CT scan were: children (12–14 years) 2.59 ± 0.19 mSv, adolescents (15–19 years) 3.23 ± 0.17 mSv, adults (20–64 years), 3.43 ± 0.08 mSv, older persons (65 years and older) 3.28 ± 0.19 mSv. The maximum radiation risk values were 31.2*10–5 in women children and 29.3*10–5 in women adolescents, which exceeds the risk values for men in these age groups by 2.3 and 1.9 times, respectively. For the group of adult patients the risk was 11.2*10–5 in men and 17.4*10–5 in women, which is 1.6 times higher than in men. All these risk values are in the range of 10*10–5–100*10–5, which corresponds to the level LOW. For the group of older age patients, the radiation risk was 2.6*10–5, which corresponds to the level of 1*10–5–10*10–5, VERY LOW. Our materials shows in detail the technique to evaluate effective radiation doses for chest CT and calculate the radiation risk of the carcinogenic effects of this exposure.