Green Buckeye RN

They provide detailed views of internal organs, but the price is increased doses of radiation.
By Alan Zarembo, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 7, 2008

When Maureen Scanlan had a painful kidney stone episode four years ago, she was pleased that her doctor ordered an annual regimen of CT scans to monitor her condition.

The scans involved hundreds of razor-thin X-rays of her innards stitched together by a computer into stunningly detailed 3-D images showing the size and location of the stone, down to the millimeter.

Anatomy of a CT scanWhat she didn’t realize was that the perfection of the images was a result of a radiation dose equivalent to more than a dozen standard abdominal X-rays — all for a condition that though painful is relatively mundane.

“I never thought twice about it,” said the 38-year-old mother of two from Westfield, N.J., who since learning of the radiation has been worried that the scans may have played a role in two miscarriages. “I knew there was radiation, but I didn’t realize how strong it was.”

Read further at http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-ctscan7-2008sep07,0,2531797.story?page=1