Regional diagnostic reference levels in paediatric interventional cardiology in Latin America and the Caribbean...

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiology
• Pediatric Cardiology

Background:

• Establishing radiation dose benchmarks is crucial for patient safety in pediatric interventional cardiology.
• Previous diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) may not reflect current practices or regional variations in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present updated regional diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for pediatric interventional cardiology procedures in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• To utilize the kerma area-product (Pka) and Pka per body weight, categorized by age and weight, within the OPRIPALC program framework.

Main Methods:

• Collected data from diagnostic and therapeutic procedures between December 2020 and December 2023 across 23 hospitals in 11 countries.
• Set regional DRLs as the 3rd quartile of Pka from a sample of 2906 procedures.
• Classified DRLs for four age groups and five weight groups.

Main Results:

• Proposed regional DRLs for Pka range from 4.3-5.4 Gy cm² (<1 yr) to 20.6-34.8 Gy cm² (10 to <16 yrs).
• Proposed regional DRLs for Pka/weight range from 0.885-1.181 Gy cm² kg⁻¹ (<1 yr) to 0.448-1.196 Gy cm² kg⁻¹ (50-<80 kg).
• DRLs were established for specific age and weight categories.

Conclusions:

• The OPRIPALC regional DRLs provide valuable benchmarks for pediatric interventional cardiology procedures in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• These proposed DRLs can be adopted by other countries and centers for dose comparison and optimization.
• The OPRIPALC methodology offers a framework for establishing DRLs in other global regions.