Assessment of Neonatal Entrance Surface Doses in Chest Radiographic Examinations at East Avenue Medical Center

A significant development in the initial diagnosis and evaluation of illnesses of neonates is the use of a chest x-ray. The technology is essentially useful to hospitalized and prematurely-born neonates suffering from respiratory and cardiovascular complications. Neonates are known to be more radiosensitive than adults because of the high mitotic rate of neonatal cells. They are also at a higher risk of inducing stochastic effects due to their long life expectancy. Despite such risk, physicians still require neonates to undergo radiographic examinations to monitor treatment progress while in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Therefore, the radiation doses they receive during a radiographic examination should be kept at a minimum without compromising the diagnostic image quality. In this study, the entrance surface dose (ESD) for neonates undergoing diagnostic chest radiography in the NICU at East Avenue Medical Center was measured. The ESD for chest anteroposterior (AP) and lateral (LAT) projections ranges from 0.022 to 0.080 mGy and 0.023-0.080 mGy, respectively. Reference levels set by international organizations were used for benchmark comparisons with the results of the present study.