OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to determine the radiation dose received by infants from radiographic exposure and the contribution from scatter radiation due to radiographic exposure of other infants in the same room. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the entrance skin doses (ESDs) and effective doses of 23 infants with a gestational age as low as 28 weeks. ESDs were determined from tube output measurements (ESD(TO)) (n = 23) and from the use of thermoluminescent dosimetry (ESD(TLD)) (n = 16). Scattered radiation was evaluated using a 5 cm Perspex phantom. Effective doses were estimated from ESD(TO) by Monte Carlo computed software and radiation risks were estimated from the effective dose. ESD(TO) and ESD(TLD) were correlated using linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean ESD(TO) for the chest and abdomen were 67 micro Gy and 65 micro Gy per procedure, respectively. The mean ESD(TLD) per radiograph was 70 micro Gy. The measured scattered radiation range at a 2 m distance from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was (11-17 micro Gy[corrected to 11-17 nGy]) per radiograph. Mean effective doses were 16 and 27 micro Sv per procedure for the chest and abdomen, respectively. ESD(TLD) was well correlated with ESD(TO) obtained from the total chest and abdomen radiographs for each infant (R2 = 0.86). The radiation risks for childhood cancer estimated from the effective dose were 0.4 x 10(-6) to 2 x 10(-6) and 0.6 x 10(-6) to 2.9 x 10(-6) for chest and abdomen radiographs, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of our study show that neonates received acceptable doses from common radiological examinations. Although the contribution of scatter radiation to the neonatal dose is low, considering the sensitivity of the neonates to radiation, further protective action was performed by increasing the distance of the infants from each other.
Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; *Infant, Premature ; *Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Linear Models ; Male ; Monte Carlo Method ; *Radiation Dosage ; Radiography, Abdominal ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors ; Thermoluminescent Dosimetry ; Turkey

The radiation dose unit for the scattered radiation in the following sentence, "The measured scattered radiation range at a 2 m distance from the NICU was 11-17 micro Gy per radiograph." passed in the abstract results section and main results section of the Korean J Radiol 2008;9:416-419 should be replaced as 11-17 nGy

Purpose: The C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR) has been reported as a novel inflammatory marker to assess inflammation. The aim of this study was to compare the levels of CAR as a inflammatory marker in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and non GDM patients. Materials and Methods: Eight hundred ten pregnant women who applied to our hospital for routine antenatal screening were included in this prospective case-control study. The patients were divided into two groups, as positive and negative diagnosis of GDM. CAR between groups was compared as the primary outcome using statistical methods. Results: The CAR value was significantly higher in pregnancies with GDM compared to healthy controls [1.07 (0.43–1.89) vs. 0.37 (0.12–0.68), p<0.0001]. The Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed that the CAR value had a significant positive correlation with all three steps of 75 gr oral glucose tolerance test (p<0.0001 for each) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio value (p=0.011). Conclusion Considering that laboratory testing is very simple and inexpensive, CAR is an independent predictor that is clinically easy to use for the development of GDM. This report is the first to show the role of CAR in GDM. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to generalize this comment.