The European Society of Radiology (ESR) and EuroSafe Imaging have published the new European guidelines on diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for pediatric imaging.
The European Guidelines on Diagnostic Reference Levels for Paediatric Imaging were published in the European Commission's Radiation Protection Series and developed by the commission-funded project PiDRL (European Diagnostic Reference Levels for Pediatric Imaging). The project was coordinated by the ESR and supported by European stakeholders and professional groups working on radiation protection, such as the European Society of Pediatric Radiology, the European Federation of Radiographer Societies, the European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics, and others. PiDRL was led by John Damilakis, PhD, as scientific coordinator, and Dr. Peter Vock, as scientific co-coordinator.
The project consolidated information on the DRLs for medical exposure of pediatric patients. Despite a large number of studies available from European countries, until now European DRLs for pediatric patients were only available for a number of common radiological examinations.
In December 2013, the European Commission approved the 27-month tender project PiDRL to establish official European DRLs for pediatric patients.
The guidelines can be downloaded from the EuroSafe Imaging website.
