CT Scans and Cancer

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Kindly include other information (facts, figures, stats), which you think is necessary and will benefit readers (mostly parents).

drgreene

In A-bomb survivors, the lowest exposure measured to increase cancer risk was about 50 mSv. Children who get a single head CT without a special pediatric setting get a dose of about 60 mSv. Out of every 2,500 babies who get CT scans in machines calibrated for adults, about one may die from cancer caused by the scan. Right now, this happens every day.

Read More From This Series:

CT Scan Defined
CT Scan, Ultrasound or MRI?
CT Scan Safety
CT Scans and Radiation Exposure
CT Scan Risks
Higher Risks in Children
Who Should Receive a CT Scan?
X-Ray or a CT Scan?
Alternatives to a CT Scan
When Should a CT Scan be Performed?
Important Tip to Reduce to Radiation
Questions to Ask before Every CT Scan
Other Radiation Exposures
Measures That Radiologists Should Adhere to When Administering a CT Scan
CT Scans and Cancer
When are MRIs not Practical?
What is Ionizing Radiation?
Who are Radiologists?

Reviewed By: 
Khanh-Van Le-Bucklin M.D. & Liat Simkhay Snyder M.D.
Last Reviewed: 
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Comments

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2011-08-04 10:17.

xrays and cancer

Hi Dr Greene, I am very nervous since my son had skull xrays taken when he was 5 months old. I brought him in to see the pediatrician for a ridge the poked out funny (little did i know this is very normal for babies around that age) and since the doc couldnt feel his soft spot that well he scared me to death and ordered xrays. I should have questioned him but I was scared. They came back normal and I called the imagining center and they said his dose was .03msv, which is very little, but still worries me. Can you give me any reassurance?
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2010-08-24 09:32.

faulty info

1
the image gently campaign is designed to LOWER EXPOSURE to kids. The study that got so much publicity a few years back used doses of radiation that would NEVER BE USED ON A CHILD if the facility implements pediatric protocols - which MANY facilities do. If you're not sure, ask! It's important to remember that THE "RISK" IS SPECULATIVE!!! The study used statistics from huuuuuge doses and extrapolated it down to the small dose of a CT scan. There is NO "real" data. It's all THEORETICAL! I could get on my soapbox for hours about this, but instead, I'll just point you to a very informative website maintained by physicists: Health Physics Society.