Siemens SOMATOM SENSATION CARDIAC A60 - Manual (Page 69)

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Children
Hints in General
1. Topograms: 256 mm lateral topograms are defined
for the head modes, and 512 mm AP topograms are
defined for the body modes. Please keep in mind that
the children’s size can be dramatically different. You
should press the “Hold Measurement“ button when-
ever the range shown on the real time growing topo-
gram is long enough, in order to avoid unnecessary
radiation.
In a consistent effort to reduce the total dose of an
examination, all topograms of the pediatric protocols
are defined at 80 kV with minimum current (50 mA).
2. Gantry tilt is available for sequence scanning, not
for spiral scanning.
3. For all head studies, it is very important for image
quality to position the patient in the center of the scan
field. Use the lateral laser beam to make sure that the
patient is positioned in the center.
4. Warm surroundings and dimmed lighting are helpful
to make children more cooperative.
5. Sedation: Although the advent of the Multislice
scanner has enabled the user to scan through an area
of interest much faster than ever, sometimes, patient
motion can still lead to severe motion artifacts seen on
the resultant images. This becomes a factor especially
with infants and younger children who are unable to
hold still for the exam. Sedating this population may
be a viable option for your institution. Of course, appro-
priate protocols need to be established at your specific
institution. For instance, the drug of choice for specific
ages/weights of these patients (taking into conside-
ration the total time of the exam), the form of admini-
stration, patient preps, adequate monitoring of the
patient (pre-scan, during the exam and post-scan) etc.
should all be taken into consideration.