Speaker
Description
Abdulaziz Alsugair2, Nasser Alaboudi1, Fahad Alothaim1*, Abdulrahman Almutairi5, Abdulaziz Almosabahi3, Abdullah Aldosari3, Sarah Albahiti4, Yusuf Alkadhi2, Belal Moftah2, Mohammed Alshabanah2, Saad Aldelaijan2, Noor Alnaimy5, Maryam Alhashem5, Abdulrahman Alkhalifa6, Abdulrahman Algeer7, Ayman Alkhadra8, Ahmed Alomrani9, Mohammed Alkhorayef10, Mohammad Ghrawi1, Abdulmajeed Almansour1, Abdulrahman Alswayed1, Ali Aldalaan1
1 The Saudi Food and Drug Authority SFDA - Riyadh, KSA
2 King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre - Riyadh, KSA
3 Ministry of Health - Riyadh, KSA
4 King Abdulaziz University Hospital - Jeddah, KSA
5 King Fahad Specialist Hospital - Dammam, KSA
6 Prince Sultan Military Medical City - Riyadh, KSA
7 Armed Forces Medical Services - Riyadh, KSA
8 Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital - Riyadh, KSA
9 National Guard Hospital - Riyadh, KSA
10 King Saud University - Riyadh, KSA
*Corresponding author: faatheem@sfda.gov.sa
Introduction:
The Saudi Food & Drug Authority (SFDA) has led the first governmental initiative to establish the Saudi National Diagnostic Reference Levels (NDRLs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is to promote dose optimization in alignment with international guidance as well as the SFDA strategic objectives. The SFDA previously published the Saudi NDRLs for various imaging modalities, including CT, general X-ray, and mammography. Now, the SFDA is extending the Saudi NDRLs to include nuclear medicine. The SFDA has established the NDRLs in nuclear medicine for commonly performed protocols, which include bone imaging, myocardial perfusion imaging, thyroid imaging, renal imaging, and tumor imaging. This will maximize diagnostic effectiveness while minimizing unnecessary radiation exposure in nuclear medicine.
Methods:
To develop these reference levels, the SFDA collaborated with leading hospitals across the Kingdom to collect real data on commonly performed nuclear medicine procedures. Administered activities were gathered for key protocols such as bone scans, myocardial perfusion imaging, thyroid imaging, renal scans, and tumor imaging. The NDRLs were set as the 75th percentile of the hospitals' median dose distribution.
Results:
The result showed considerable variation in the administered doses across all participating hospitals, highlighting the value of establishing national reference levels. The resulting Saudi NDRLs provide a localized benchmark that supports dose optimization while considering regional clinical practices.
Conclusion:
This extension to the Saudi NDRLs advocates for dose optimization in nuclear medicine. In the future, the SFDA will consider establishing NDRLs for additional imaging modalities. This will significantly advance the regulatory framework for medical imaging in the kingdom, promoting continuous quality improvement and national standards for radiation safety and medical imaging.
