What if a patient underwent an abdomen CT before realizing that she is pregnant?
Occasionally, a patient will not be aware of a pregnancy at the time of an X ray examination, and will naturally be very concerned when the pregnancy becomes known. In such cases, the radiation dose to the fetus/conceptus should be estimated, but only by a medical physicist/ radiation safety specialist experienced in dosimetry. The patient can then be better advised as to the potential risks involved. In many cases there is little risk, as the irradiation will have occurred in the first 3 weeks following conception. In a few cases the conceptus will be older and the dose involved may be considerable. It is, however, extremely rare for the dose to be high enough to warrant advising the patient to consider terminating the pregnancy. If a calculation of radiation dose is required in order to advise the patient, the radiographic factors should be noted if known. Some assumptions may be made in the dosimetry, but it is best to use actual data. The patient’s date of conception or date of LMP
Related Questions
- What happens if a patient is preauthorized for a CT of the abdomen, and the radiologist or rendering physician feels an additional study of the pelvis is needed?
- What happens if a patient is authorized for a CT of the abdomen, and the radiologist or rendering physician feels an additional study of the pelvis is needed?
- The patient is pregnant. Can she have a CT exam?
