Whole body CT and radiation issues

This article in Radiology, in the Sept 2003 issue, by Brenner D et al has stirred up a hornet's net. The authors have shown that one full-body CT examination irradiates the lung and or stomach to the extent comparable to the radiation dose that the survivors of the Hiroshima & Nagasaki bomb blasts received, if they were 1.5km away from the epicentre of the bomb. The risk for solid organ cancer in these patients is around 0.08% and increases with each annual examination.

This item has been then picked up by the lay press and a significant number of articles have been published on this subject, with varying degrees of objectivity.

Medscape has a more detailed explanation of the findings of this article.