CT and MRI in Diagnostic Practice at the A.I. Burnazyan Federal Medical Biological Center: Opportunities for Optimizing Studies to Reduce Radiation Exposure

Purpose: To analyze the frequency and structure of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies at the A.I. Burnazyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center from 2020 to 2023 by major anatomical regions, to assess the potential for reducing radiation exposure in CT.

Material and methods: The number and structure of CT and MRI studies performed at a multidisciplinary medical institution from 2020 to 2023 were analyzed. During this period, a total of 62,340 CT studies were conducted on three multispiral CT scanners, and 29,942 MRI studies were conducted on four high-field MRI scanners. The primary areas of study, as per form No. 30 approved by Rosstat Order No. 681 dated December 25, 2023, include the head, neck, chest, heart and blood vessels, abdominal cavity, retroperitoneal space, pelvis, spine and spinal cord, bones, soft tissues and mammary glands. The number of studies in these areas, both with and without administration of intravenous contrast, was evaluated.

Results: An increase of 1.2 times in the total number of CT studies and 1.5 times in the total number of MRI studies was established in 2023 compared to 2020. At the same time, in 2023, the number of CT studies was 2.2 times higher than the number of MRI studies. In the structure of CT studies for the entire period from 2020 to 2023, the main share fell on the abdominal and retroperitoneal space (35.2–53. %) and chest (33.4–42.9 %), in the structure of MRI during this period, head studies prevailed (28.9–36.6 %), bones and MT (14.3–21.1 %), and spine (20.1–27.5 %). When assessing the ratio of CT and MRI frequencies, a significant predominance of CT over MRI was established for the abdominal and retroperitoneal space (in 2023 – 7.5 times). In the areas of head, neck, pelvis, spine, bones and MT, the prevalence of MRI studies over CT was found to be from 1.1 to 13.9 times.

Conclusion: A growth in the number of CT and MRI studies was recorded at the A.I. Burnazyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center during the period from 2020 to 2023 in 2 time, which aligns with the data from the State Report “On the State of Sanitary and Epidemiological Well-being of the Population in the Russian Federation in 2022”. The area of abdominal and retroperitoneal space studies can be considered as the primary potential for increasing the share of MRI studies, following an additional assessment of indication optimization, to reduce patient radiation exposure.