Preliminary studies into the determination of mean glandular dose during diagnostic mammography procedure in Ghana

Abstract

The objective of this project was to determine the Mean Glandular Dose (MGD) from Craniocaudal (CC) and Mediolateral Oblique (MLO) views to the breast during diagnostic mammography and the total dose per woman. The study was conducted at the Mammography Unit of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Peace and Love Hospital, Oduom. Data such as age, weight, height, bust size, compressed breast thickness, time of exposure, milli-ampere second (mAs), kilovoltage peak (KVp) and half value layer (HVL) were recorded from 440 films from 110 women. The MGD per film was 1.17±0.02 mGy and 1.25±0.03 mGy for the craniocaudal (CC) and Mediolateral Oblique (MLO) views, respectively. The mean MGD per woman was 1.80±0.03 mGy. The only factors that were found to affect MGD were mAs and the compressed breast thickness. No significant relationships were seen between MGD per woman with respect to ethnicity and educational background. The dose values obtained fall within the internationally acceptable dose range of 1-3 mGy. This suggests mammography x-ray generators at the two hospitals are capable of achieving acceptable dose levels for patient safety and this prompted us to rule out the fact that all other factors considered, they are not at risk of induced cancer from mammography. © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2011.