RESEARCH - Radiation from cardiac CT scans varies

[Guest guest]

Radiation From Cardiac CT Scans Varies

Study Shows Many Centers Are Not Using Radiation-Lowering Strategies

By Salynn Boyles

WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Klodas, MD, FACC

Feb. 3, 2009 -- Radiation doses from scans used to diagnose heart and

vascular disease vary widely, and they could be reduced significantly

if strategies for minimizing exposure were more widely followed, a new

study shows.

Researchers estimated radiation exposures from cardiac computed

tomography (CT) scans at 50 teaching and community hospitals

throughout the world. Their study appears in the Feb. 4 issue of The

Journal of the American Medical Association.

They found radiation exposures at the highest-dose sites to be six

times as high as those at the lowest-dose sites.

And on average, the radiation exposure from a single, new-generation

CT imaging test was equivalent to exposure from 600 conventional chest

X-rays.

" That sounds really scary, but the chest X-ray isn't very useful for

evaluating coronary artery disease so it really is a useless

comparison, " study researcher Jorg Hausleiter, MD, tells WebMD. " The

more important point is that coronary CT is an excellent diagnostic

tool for ruling out coronary artery disease. But we need to work to

reduce radiation exposures. "

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

Read the entire article here:

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20090203/radiation-from-cardiac-ct-scans\

-varies

Not an MD