Morocco Establishes Its First National DRLs for Adult Head CT

Background: CT utilization has become widespread in emergency care across Morocco and has raised concerns about radiation safety, particularly in the absence of national diagnostic reference levels (DRLs). Without specific DRLs tailored to clinical indications, it becomes difficult to ensure safe practices. Objective: To establish Morocco’s first national, clinical indication–based DRLs for adult head CT examinations. Design: Retrospective multicenter analysis. Methods: 1299 adult head CT examinations across 20 Moroccan hospitals were included. Clinical indications included stroke, acute neurologic symptoms, postcontrast imaging, CT angiography, oncology planning, and sinus and temporal bone imaging. Key parameters and dose metrics were extracted, and the 75 th percentile (third quartile) of the volumetric CT dose index and dose–length product (DLP) distribution per indication was used to propose DRLs. Results: DLP varied significantly across protocols (highest, oncology; lowest, tem more...