Women, Children Face Higher Cancer Risk from CT Scans
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The lifetime risk of cancer associated with radiation exposure from a computer tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) varies widely, but women and younger patients appear to be at increased risk, according to the July 18 Journal of the American Medical Association.
CTCA, which combines 64 images to produce cross-sectional views of the heart and coronary arteries, has been predicted to be the diagnostic tool of choice for patients with a high risk of developing coronary artery disease. Little data, however, are available on CTCA and its associated cancer risk from radiation exposure.
Researchers led by Andrew J. Einstein, MD, PhD, found that the lifetime attributable risk of cancer incidence associated with radiation exposure varied with age, sex, and scan protocol. Lifetime cancer risk estimates for standard cardiac scans ranged from one in 143 for women for a 20-year-old woman to one in 3,261 for an 80-year-old man.
Estimates for electrocardiographically controlled tube current modulation (ECTCM), which uses reduced radiation during part of the cardiac cycle, ranged from one in 219 to one in 5,017, respectively. Estimated cancer risks using ECTCM was one in 715 for a 60-year-old woman and one in 5,017 in a 60-year-old man. A combined scan of the heart and aorta, however, had the highest lifetime attributable risks, up to one in 114 for a 20-year-old woman.
The researchers noted that CTCA should be used with caution with young individuals and women and that different diagnostic tools - stress electocardiography, echocardiography, or magnetic resonance imaging - should be considered.
Emergency Medicine News:Volume 29(11)November 2007p 7
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