Diagnostic Usage of Low Dose CT in Solitary Pulmonary Nodule Follow Up in Daily Practice

Abstract

Purpose: Numbers of computed tomography (CT) examinations are increasing, so does the number of patients exposed to ionizing radiation. Our aim was to reveal the current usage of low dose CT protocols in pulmonary nodule follow up in Gaziantep, Turkey, and what is more important to create awareness to the issue. Materials and Methods: A survey was conducted with specialists of chest diseases, thoracic surgeons and radiologists, regarding pulmonary nodule follow-up. At the end of the interview, brief information was given to the participants about the benefits of low dose CT. Results: Among 81 participants, 16 of the 39 radiologists (41.02%) stated that their CT scanners had a previously established low dose chest CT protocols by vendors, while 14 (35.89%) responded that they did not have any and 9 (23.07%) stated they did not know if they had. Twenty nine (74.35%) of the radiologists answered that they have not used the low dose protocols in nodule follow up before. Ninety five percent of clinicians were following a nodule 2 years before they excluded patients from follow up. Only 10 clinicians (23.8%) stated that they have requested low dose chest CT before, while remaining 32 (76.2%) answered they did not ever. Requested mean CT examination numbers during a follow up (except initial CT) were 5.87 +/- 2.01, and 6.42 +/- 2.15 for pulmonologists and thoracic surgeons, respectively (p=0.437). Conclusion: Follow up strategies of clinicians are consisted with recent literature knowledge, but low dose CT protocols in nodule follow up have not gained enough recognition in our city, yet. Physicians must be enlightened, and steps must be taken to generalize the use of low dose CT, especially in public hospitals, where vast majority of CT examinations are performed.