Due to the coronavirus outbreak, queues are lining up for a chest CT scan. But it is important to understand that this is a very harmful procedure, which gives a radiation load.
Meanwhile, computed tomography is not a harmless procedure at all. And you need to go through it only as prescribed by a doctor and only if the benefits outweigh the risks. The main risk of CT scan is associated with radiation exposure. And doctor Denis Surkov, head of the department of anesthesiology and intensive care of newborns at the Regional Children's Clinical Hospital (St. Dnieper).
Coronavirus pneumonia is often not visible on x-rays. Therefore, CT of the lungs is prescribed / open sources
“In Hiroshima, the victims received 240 millisievert radiation. At the epicenter of the explosion - 400 millisievert. Approximately the same radiation dose was detected in the liquidators of the Chernobyl accident. On a chest x-ray, the radiation dose is 0.02 millisievert. CT scan of the chest with contrast - 8 millisieverts. Such a load can be obtained by making 400 X-rays, ”the doctor writes.
Denis Surkov draws attention to the fact that in a child of the first year of life, a CT scan adds the risk of developing cancer by 0.18%. For 4 million people, CT adds a cancer risk of 4,870.
If you have succumbed to the influence of panic and tabloids, then you will be advised to do a chest CT scan 2-3 times. At the onset of the disease, after a certain time and control after a couple of months. “Thus, you will receive a radiation dose of 24 millisieverts. This is a tenth of the radiation exposure in Hiroshima, the doctor writes. - The risk of new cancer cases is respectively 3653 per 1 million patients. There are 40 million people in Ukraine. The birth rate has almost halved over the past 8 years, ”the expert says.
If your child has decided to go to a medical university, advise him on the specialization of an oncologist. There will soon be no pediatricians, sums up Denis Surkov.
The conclusion from this information is the following: do not self-medicate. At the first sign of acute respiratory infections, do not run to do a CT scan of the lungs. Whether you need this procedure or not, only the doctor determines. Based on your condition, listening to the lungs, a blood test (it shows whether there is an inflammatory process in the body or not). An alternative to CT is ultrasound of the lungs. Ask your family doctor about the possibility of getting an ultrasound scan before having a CT scan.
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