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How to interpret dose or DLP from a coronary CT scan

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Results from my Coronary Calcium CT say:

Estimated cumulative dose or total dose-length-product (DLP) is: 31 mGy-cm. Estimated radiation doses are based on a 32 cm body phantom reference.

Prior to the CT, I asked the technician (or radiologist?... the person that took the scan) what the radiation dose would be. He told me he couldn't give me exact numbers prior to the scan, but that it was very low dose -- in his words, equivalent to "a 2 hour airplane flight", that the machine produces far less radiation than CT scans used to, and that numbers you find online for CT scans are often referenced from older equipment.

I was under the impression that:

  • Short airline flight ~ 0.02 mSv
  • Annual background radiation is ~ 3 mSv
  • Coronary CT 1-3 mSv
  • Other CTs up to 10 mSv

But at 31 mGy-cm, where 1 mGy = 1 mSv, that's 31 mSv, which sound incredibly high, 10 years of background radiation. So maybe I'm not understanding the "per cm" portion or phantom reference.

Can anyone please interpret this DLP in terms of comparison to background radiation or such?

submitted by /u/Peacewise
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/Radiology/comments/mymcoa/how_to_interpret_dose_or_dlp_from_a_coronary_ct/
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