Wednesday, December 26, 2007

What are the radiation risks from CT?

As in many aspects of tablets, there are both benefits and risks associated near the use of CT. The main risks are those associated with


1. uncharacteristic test results, for a benign or incidental finding, central to unneeded, possibly invasive, follow-up tests that may present supplementary risks and


2. the increased possibility of cancer induction from x-ray radiation exposure.


The probability for absorbed x rays to induce cancer is thought to be unbelievably small for radiation doses of the magnitude that are associated near CT procedures. Such estimates of the cancer risk from x-ray exposure have a broad array of statistical uncertainty and here is some scientific controversy on the subject of the effects from very low doses and dose rates as discussed below. Under some undercooked circumstances of prolonged, high-dose exposure, x rays can cause other adverse form effects, such as skin erythema (reddening), skin tissue injury, genetic effects, and birth defects. But at the exposure level associated with most medical imaging procedures, including CT, these other adverse effects would not go off.


Risk Estimates


In the field of radiation protection, it is commonly assumed that the risk for adverse robustness effects from cancer is proportional to the amount of radiation dose absorbed and the amount of dose depends on the type of x-ray nouns. A CT examination next to an effective dose of 10 millisieverts (abbreviated mSv; 1 mSv = 1 mGy within the case of x rays.) may be associated beside an increase in the possibility of fatal cancer of approximately 1 destiny in 2000. This increase in the possibility of a cruel cancer from radiation can be compared to the natural incidence of vicious cancer in the U.S. population, roughly 1 chance contained by 5. In other words, for any one person the risk of radiation-induced cancer is much smaller than the fluent risk of cancer. Nevertheless, this small increase in radiation-associated cancer risk for an individual can become a public health concern if generous numbers of the population undergo increased numbers of CT screening procedures of undecided benefit.


It must be noted that there is ambiguity regarding the risk estimates for low level of radiation exposure as commonly experienced in diagnostic radiology procedures. There are some that ask whether there is okay evidence for a risk of cancer induction at low doses. However, this position has not be adopted by most authoritative bodies contained by the radiation protection and medical arenas.


Radiation Dose


The effective doses from diagnostic CT procedures are typically estimated to be surrounded by the range of 1 to 10 mSv. This scope is not much less than the lowest doses of 5 to 20 mSv received by some of the Japanese survivors of the atomic bombs. These survivors, who are estimated to enjoy experienced doses only slightly larger than those encounter in CT, enjoy demonstrated a small but increased radiation-related excess relative risk for cancer mortality.


Radiation dose from CT procedures varies from merciful to patient. A specific radiation dose will depend on the size of the body part examined, the type of procedure, and the type of CT equipment and its operation. Typical values cited for radiation dose should be considered as estimates that cannot be precisely associated next to any individual patient, nouns, or type of CT system. The actual dose from a procedure could be two or three times larger or smaller than the estimates. Facilities performing "screening" procedures may adjust the radiation dose used to levels smaller quantity (by factors such as 1/2 to 1/5 for so call "low dose CT scans") than those typically used for diagnostic CT procedures. However, no comprehensive background is available to permit estimation of the extent of this practice and reducing the dose can enjoy an adverse impact on the image point produced. Such reduced image point may be acceptable contained by certain imaging applications.


The amount most relevant for assessing the risk of cancer detriment from a CT procedure is the "effective dose". Effective dose is evaluated surrounded by units of millisieverts (abbreviated mSv; 1 mSv = 1 mGy contained by the case of x rays.) Using the concept of impressive dose allows comparison of the risk estimates associated with partial or whole-body radiation exposures. This total also incorporates the different radiation sensitivities of the various organs surrounded by the body.


Estimates of the effective dose from a diagnostic CT procedure can come and go by a factor of 10 or more depending on the type of CT procedure, patient size and the CT system and its operating technique. A enumerate of representative diagnostic procedures and associated doses are given in Table 1 explicitly adapted from a report of the European Commission.


Table I. - Radiation Dose Comparison

Time Period for
Diagnostic Typical Number of Chest Equivalent Effective
Procedure Effective X rays (PA film) Dose from Natural
Dose for Equivalent Background
(mSv) (1) Effective Radiation (3)
Dose (2)

Chest x ray (PA
film) 0.02 1 2.4 days

Skull x ray 0.07 4 8.5 days

Lumbar spine 1.3 65 158 days

I.V. urogram 2.5 125 304 days

Upper G.I. Exam 3.0 150 1.0 year

Barium enema 7.0 350 2.3 years

CT head 2.0 100 243 days

CT tummy 10.0 500 3.3 years

(1.) Effective dose in millisieverts (mSv).

(2.) Based on the assumption of an average "influential dose" from chest
x ray (PA film) of 0.02 mSv.

(3.) Based on the assumption of an average "impressive dose" from
natural milieu radiation of 3 mSv per year in the United States.

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