IMAGING TECHNOLOGY IS ON THE RISE BUT CARRIES A RISK

The use of advanced medical imaging in emergency rooms – including radiation-emitting technology is on the rise. CT and nuclear scans as well as MRI which doesn’t use radiation – grew significantly between 1999 and 2008.

During the past 30 years the average amount of radiation that Americans have been exposed to has doubled. While the output from natural sources hasn’t changed the dose from medical imaging procedures has spiked more than six fold times. The epicenter of this explosion is computerized tomography, or CT scans. They take rapid multiple images, or slices of a body area, provide a finely detailed, three dimensional picture in less than a second – and impart a dose of radiation equivalent to 100 to 500 chest X-rays. In 1980 fewer than 3 million scans were performed with CT technology. Since then the annual number approaches 80 million and it’s increasing by approximately 10 percent each year. Medicare spending on CT scans ballooned from $975 million in 2000 to roughly $2.2 billion in 2006, the most recent year in which data was available.

The cost is more than monetary. Overall, slightly less than1 in 1,000 people who have a CT scan could develop cancer as a result of radiation exposure, estimates the National Research Council, an independent group that provides advice on health policy. Specific CT procedures can carry a much higher risk. In the December 2009 the Archives of Internal Medicine, for example, researchers estimated that one in every 270 40-year-old women who undergoes CT angiography (a test for clogged arteries that delivers a radiation dose equal to 42 mammograms) will develop cancer.

In one study, only 9 percent of ER physicians knew that CT scans increase the risk of getting cancer. Do you really need that scan? While patients rarely have the medical expertise to fact-check their doctor’s orders, it is wise to seek out a second opinion if you spot check these things.