{"id":9644,"date":"2026-03-09T14:57:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T11:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/?p=9644"},"modified":"2026-03-09T14:57:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T11:57:30","slug":"worldwide-variation-in-radiation-doses-in-medical-imaging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/worldwide-variation-in-radiation-doses-in-medical-imaging\/","title":{"rendered":"Worldwide Variation in Radiation Doses in Medical Imaging"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Worldwide Variation in Radiation Doses in Medical Imaging<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>JAMA | February 2026<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>A Call for Standardization of Optimal Radiation Protocols in Cath Labs and Cardiac Imaging<\/div>\n<div>Study Overview:<\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Included 19,302 patients<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 From 101 countries<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Evaluated radiation doses in common cardiac imaging tests<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Published in JAMA \u2013 February 2026<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Key Findings<\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Significant global variation in radiation doses for the same imaging tests<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Western Europe had the lowest average doses<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Africa showed the highest doses, particularly for CCTA<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 In lower-income countries, CCTA doses were up to 280% higher than high-income countries.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 In certain regions lacking structured protocol oversight and dose-optimization standards where imaging protocols are not strictly standardized , radiation doses have been reported to vary by as much as 500% compared with optimized centers.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Average Radiation Doses<\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Calcium Score (CACS): ~ 1.2 mSv<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 PET: ~ 2.0 mSv<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 SPECT: ~ 6.5 mSv<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 CCTA: ~ 7.4 mSv<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>(But with wide variation between regions)<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\ud83d\udca1 Why the Difference?<\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Different imaging protocols<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Equipment quality and technology level<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Operator training<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Lack of standardized dose optimization strategies<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Clinical Message<\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 The same test does NOT mean the same radiation dose worldwide<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 There is major opportunity to reduce exposure through:<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Protocol standardization<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Staff training<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Technology upgrades<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span> \u2022 Dose optimization should be part of quality metrics in cardiac imaging<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/article-abstract\/2845479?\">https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/article-abstract\/2845479?<\/a><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Standardized radiation optimization protocols must become mandatory in all cath labs and cardiac imaging centers worldwide to ensure patient and staff safety.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Worldwide Variation in Radiation Doses in Medical Imaging JAMA | February 2026 A Call for Standardization of Optimal Radiation Protocols in Cath Labs and Cardiac Imaging Study Overview: \u2022 Included 19,302 patients \u2022 From 101 countries \u2022 Evaluated radiation doses in common cardiac imaging tests \u2022 Published in JAMA \u2013 February 2026 Key Findings \u2022 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9645,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9644\/revisions\/9645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordan-cardiac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}