Determination of Diagnostic Reference Levels in Cote dIvoire: Case of the Adult Skull Computed Tomography in the District of Abidjan

This study which the objective is the establishment of the diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) in computed tomography (CT) for the examination of the skull in the district of Abidjan for adult, is a first study in Cte dIvoire. The analysis of the relative data to domestic surveys from October 2015 to January 2016 from the scanner consoles of 126 patients of two hospitals in Abidjan, Military Hospital of Abidjan (HMA) and the Universal Hospital of Cocody (CHUC) was carried out. This analysis provided an estimate of the exposure levels for the skull scan. For each hospital and for both, the mean value and the DRLs, obtained by the 75th percentile method in CTDIvol (50.9 mGy) and in DLP (982.879 mGy. cm), were calculated. For the whole study, the DRLs in CDTIvol obtained, is lower than the guidance value established in many countries such as Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, France, UK, USA and Ireland. For the DRLs in terms of DLP, the result is mitigated. It is higher than the ones found in Germany, UK and Ireland and lower than in the others. These results obtained only with two hospitals show the feasibility of this study to determine the DRLs at the national level and to plan their periodical review in Cte dIvoire.