A review of cross sectional imaging, ultrasound & nuclear medicine utilisation patterns in paediatric patients in Ireland, 2003-12

Objective: Recent trends in paediatric imaging have been examined in Australia and the USA. Such literature in Europe is sparse, incomprehensive and outdated. This research investigated (1) population-based trends in the use of advanced medical imaging in children in Ireland from 2003 to 2012; (2) its use across age and gender; and (3) the most commonly performed examinations within each modality. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis study was carried out within Irish paediatric hospitals. All CT, MRI, ultrasound and nuclear medicine (NM) annual examination data from 2003 to 2012 was obtained from radiology information systems. Results: 224,173 imaging procedures were carried out on 84,511 patients, 68% of which were ultrasound, 15% were MRI, 11% were CT and 6% were NM. Between 2003 and 2012, MRI (+280%) and CT (+80%) saw the largest increases in use, followed by ultrasound (+67%) and NM (+10%). Almost half of the study population were less than 3 years old. CT imaging was more frequent than MR in 2005. By 2012, MR rates were twice that of CT. CT imaging rates were the lowest in the youngest age categories. Conclusion: Advanced imaging use, particularly MRI, has risen substantially over the past 10 years. The utilization of non-ionizing modalities increased between 2003 and 2012, especially in brain, spinal and abdominal imaging. MR is now used at twice the frequency of CT. Advances in knowledge: Longitudinal advanced imaging utilization trends, including CT trends, have been established in the Irish paediatric population.