Cardiac CT and radiation dose: what is the risk in practice for the patient?
JF Paul, Le Plessis-Robinson, France
Why is
radiation dose more important with cardiac CT? |
How can
radiation dose be optimised? |
What is the
real risk? |
References
Introduction
A recent study published in JAMA (1) estimated the long-term radiation-induced risk associated with cardiac CT, according to the linear no-threshold risk theory. In this model, the risk is proportional to the dose received with no lower risk-free threshold.
The maximal risk of long-term radiation-induced cancer was estimated to be 1 in 143 (0.70%) for a 20-year-old woman, when a 64-slice CT scanner was used without dose optimisation.
Thus, this paper raises the question of the risk-benefit ratio associated with cardiac CT.
