News Article: Patients, Physicians Unaware of CT Radiation Exposure

[John Jacobus <crispy_bird@YAHOO.COM>]

Another story about radiation risks in medicine. 

There have been so many, I am not even sure if this is

a new story or not.



-----Original Message-----

From: Automatic digest processor

[mailto:LISTSERV@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU]

Sent: Friday, May 07, 2004 12:09 AM

To: Recipients of MEDPHYS digests

. . .



Date:    Thu, 6 May 2004 17:32:25 -1000

From:    Scott DUBE <sdube@QUEENS.ORG>

Subject: 

The press loves to hate radiation.



vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv



Patients, Physicians Unaware of CT Radiation Exposure



By Will Boggs, MD



NEW YORK (Reuters Health) May 05 - Patients and their

physicians are unaware of the radiation dose and

possible risks associated with diagnostic CT scans,

according to a report in the May issue of Radiology.



The radiation dose associated with one abdominal CT

scan has been estimated to be equivalent to 100 to 250

chest X-rays, the authors explain, and one

controversial study attributed 2500 deaths annually to

CT examinations in the United States.



Dr. Howard P. Forman and colleagues from Yale

University, New Haven, Connecticut surveyed patients,

emergency department (ED) physicians, and radiologists

to determine the awareness level concerning radiation

dose and possible risks associated with CT scans.



Only 5 of 76 patients (7%) reported being informed of

the risks and benefits before their CT scan, the

authors report, and only 10 of 45 ED (22%) physicians

reported explaining those risks and benefits to their

patients.



Nearly half the radiologists (47%) believed that a CT

scan increased the lifetime risk of cancer, the

results indicate, but a similar belief was reported by

only 3% of patients and 9% of ED physicians.



Ninety-two percent of patients estimated the radiation

dose of one CT scan to be no more than 10 chest

X-rays, the researchers note, as did 51% of ED

physicians and 61% of radiologists. Only 22% of ED

physicians and 13% of radiologists (and none of the

patients) had dose estimates in the accurate range.



"Given the current debate about the possible increased

cancer risk associated with diagnostic CT scans," the

investigators write, "we believe that it is important

that the radiology community make current information

regarding CT radiation dose more widely available."



Physicians are not adequately prepared to answer

questions their patients should be asking about the

risks and benefits of imaging studies, Dr. Forman told

Reuters Health. "We must empower our patients to ask

questions, and our physicians (both referring and

providing) must become better prepared to answer these

important questions."



"Not all imaging is necessary," Dr. Forman concluded,

"and unnecessary imaging, with its attendant risk, is

bad medicine. On the other hand, I would not want to

frighten patients from having necessary studies

performed; they should be informed, though."



Radiology 2004;231:393-398



************************************************************





=====

+++++++++++++++++++

"We cannot escape danger, or the fear of danger, by crawling into bed and pulling the covers over our heads."

-- Franklin Delano Roosevelt



-- John

John Jacobus, MS

Certified Health Physicist

e-mail:  crispy_bird@yahoo.com





	

		

__________________________________

Do you Yahoo!?

Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs  

http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover 

************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To

unsubscribe, send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the

text "unsubscribe radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail,

with no subject line. You can view the Radsafe archives at

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/