COMPARISON OF CONVENTIONAL HAND EXAMINATION ON SIX OPTIMISED DR SYSTEMS

Effects of body part thickness on low-contrast detail detection and radiation dose during adult chest radiography

INTRODUCTION

Differences in patient size often provide challenges for radiographers, particularly when choosing the optimum acquisition parameters to obtain radiographs with acceptable image quality (IQ) for diagnosis. This study aimed to assess the effect of body part thickness on IQ in terms of low-contrast detail (LCD) detection and radiation dose when undertaking adult chest radiography (CXR).

METHODS

This investigation made use of a contrast detail (CD) phantom. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was utilised to approximate varied body part thicknesses (9, 11, 15 and 17 cm) simulating underweight, standard, overweight and obese patients, respectively. Different tube potentials were tested against a fixed 180 cm source to image distance (SID) and automatic exposure control (AEC). IQ was analysed using bespoke software thus providing an image quality figure inverse (IQFinv ) value which represents LCD detectability. Dose area product (DAP) was utilised to represent the radiation dose.

RESULTS

IQFinv values decreased statistically (P = 0.0001) with increasing phantom size across all tube potentials studied. The highest IQFinv values were obtained at 80 kVp for all phantom thicknesses (2.29, 2.02, 1.8 and 1.65, respectively). Radiation dose increased statistically (P = 0.0001) again with increasing phantom thicknesses.

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrate that lower tube potentials provide the highest IQFinv scores for various body part thicknesses. This is not consistent with professional practice because radiographers frequently raise the tube potential with increased part thickness. Higher tube potentials did result in radiation dose reductions. Establishing a balance between dose and IQ, which must be acceptable for diagnosis, can prevent the patient from receiving unnecessary additional radiation dose.

Assessment of glufosinate-containing herbicide exposure: A multi-center retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Exposure to glufosinate ammonium, an herbicide used worldwide, can cause CNS and respiratory toxicities. This study aimed to analyze acute human glufosinate ammonium poisoning.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This multicenter retrospective cohort study involved five medical institutes affiliated with the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital system. Patients with glufosinate ammonium exposure visiting the emergency department (ED) between January 2008 and December 2020 were included.

RESULTS

In total, 95 patients were enrolled. Compared to exposure via the non-oral route, patients exposed orally (n = 61) had lower GCS scores, higher mortality rates, and longer hospital lengths of stay (P-value: <0.001, 0.002, and < 0.001, respectively). In the subgroup analysis among oral exposure patients, the survival group had a lower amount of estimated glufosinate ingestion than the non-survival group (10.5 [3.4-27] vs. 40.5 [27-47.3] g, P-value: 0.022), lower rate of substance co-exposure (9 [19.6%] vs. 10 [66.7%] P-value: 0.001), and lower rate of paraquat co-exposure (0 [0%] vs. 7 [46.7%] P < 0.001) compared with the mortality group. In the orally-exposed and non-paraquat co-exposure patients (n = 54), age > 70 years and GCS score < 9 at triage presented a high sensitivity (100.00%, 95% CI: 63.06-100.00%) and medium specificity (58.70%, 95% CI: 43.23-73.00%) in predicting mortality.

CONCLUSION

Old age, change in consciousness, and paraquat co-exposure were associated with higher mortality in human glufosinate poisoning. Age > 70 years and GCS score < 9 at triage could be predictors of mortality in patients with acute oral glufosinate poisoning.