Breast absorbed dose in women undergoing chest radiographs

Chest radiographs are among the most commonly performed in emergency units, raising concern about the radiation dose this region receives. Estimating the dose absorbed by the breast is important in this type of exam, since the biological risk caused by ionizing radiation when crossing and interacting with tissues and cells may trigger several abnormalities, including cancer, such as breast cancer. The objective of this work is to simulate the dose that the breast receives in this type of exam. For this, data were collected from women who underwent chest radiography in two emergency units in Uberlândia - MG and processed by the CALDose_X 5.0 program. The mean absorbed dose in unit A patients was 0.037 mGy while in unit B it was 0.019 mGy. The parameters used in this study compared to others were similar. There are divergences in standard chest X-ray examinations and therefore directly affect the radiation dose the patient receives.