Published September 1982 | Version v1
Journal article

Analysis of risk in computerized tomography and other diagnostic radiology procedures

Creators

  • 1. Department of Radiation Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC

Description

Medical practice entails continuous risks to the patient taken in good faith by the physician for the benefit of the patient. Risk of radiation induced cancer death approximates 10(-4) per cGy (rad). Assuming an average whole body dose of 0.1 cGy for many diagnostic X-ray procedures, the probability of radiation-induced cancer death is about 10(-5). The purpose of this paper is to compare the risks of common diagnostic X-ray procedures including computerized tomography (CT) with risks of smoking or automobile travel. Such comparisons should be constructive in putting radiation in perspective and facilitating explanation of risk/benefit to patients

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Comput. Radiol.
Journal Volume
6
Journal Issue
5
Series
Comput. Radiol.
Journal Page Range
251-256