Open AccessEffects of iodinated contrast media on radiation therapy dosimetry for pathologies within the thorax
Author(s) -
Kimlin K.,
Mitchell J.,
Knight R.T.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
radiographer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.484
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 2051-3909
pISSN - 0033-8273
DOI - 10.1002/j.2051-3909.2006.tb00053.x
Subject(s) - dosimetry , contrast (vision) , medicine , nuclear medicine , radiation therapy , lung , thorax (insect anatomy) , radiation treatment planning , iodinated contrast , lung cancer , radiology , hounsfield scale , computed tomography , pathology , computer science , anatomy , artificial intelligence
The aim of this study was to establish whether the presence of iodinated contrast within the tissues of the treatment region leads to inaccurate dose representation during radiation therapy dose calculations. We reviewed the radiation therapy planning computed tomography (CT) scans for 20 previously treated lung cancer patients where both contrast and non‐contrast CT scans had been performed. Planning had been carried out on the non‐contrast scan. Plans were replicated to the contrast CT series and dosimetry was compared between the two plans. To account for differences in respiration and therefore lung volume between the two CT series, lung tissue was assigned a density equivalent to water. The overall data collected from this method showed that, for all chest plans examined, the presence of contrast affected the resultant dosimetry by up to ± 1.5% when compared to the identical non‐contrast plan. Even when lung tissue was not assigned a density equivalent to water, the average effect of contrast was minimal, however, these results are not solely from the presence of contrast as there were additional lung volume discrepancies. In conclusion, the effect of the presence of contrast on dosimetry for lung cancer treatment is negligible.