"Obviously, I did a flat scan, why do I still have to do enhanced CT, and I won't get cancer if I do it twice at once?"
Lao Liu recently went to the hospital for some cough for examination, and others only needed to do a flat scan CT, but the doctor asked him to do another enhanced CT. Old Liu thought that CT was radiation, originally did the examination hurt the body, do it again will definitely hurt the body, so he said that he would not do CT again.
CT tests are very versatile, and radiation is needed in the process of examination, so it often causes patients to worry, will CT make people cancer? Regarding the most common problems of CT examination, today Xiao Ai will explain it to you at one time.
What exactly is CT? For example, you have to buy a watermelon, ultrasound is like picking a watermelon before knocking, listen to the echo inside, MRI is to pick up the watermelon and shake it, and then check through the instrument, and CT, directly cut the watermelon into pieces, how to see the quality of the fruit inside.
There are generally two ways of CT imaging -
Ordinary flat sweep: The examiner lies on the CT machine and completes the scan in a few seconds
Enhanced scanning: add intravenous iodine contrast agent to the flat scan to see if there is a lesion by comparing the iodine comparator with the surrounding normal tissue.
"Do a CT, is it going to lose hair...", "on the rivers and lakes" rumors about CT are varied, and there are even rumors that CT radiation is huge, and a test may cause cancer. In the end, how big is the impact of CT on the human body?
Lu Jingjing, director of the Department of Radiology of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said that in life, we are receiving radiation from the universe and the natural environment all the time, and the general population will receive about 3-4mSv of radiation every year. The human body has a limited dose of radiation, and when the radiation amount reaches 100mSv/year, it can cause damage to the body.
Although CT also has radiation levels, it varies depending on the location of the test. For example, the radiation produced by the head examination is 2mSv; the chest examination can produce 6mSv radiation; and the abdominal and pelvic examinations can produce radiation close to 10mSv. Compared with the limits of radiation that the human body can absorb each year, CT examination is still within a controllable range.
Director Lu Jingjing said that although the amount of radiation for a CT examination is not high, the probability of carcinogenicity is low. However, the probability of cancer increases with the dose of radiation. So in general, it is necessary to reduce the number of imaging tests.
As one of the tests with a higher amount of radiation, CT cannot indeed be performed multiple times in a short period of time. In general, according to the patient's physique, disease needs and other differences, CT examination should be controlled within 1 to 3 times a year, depending on the person, try not to exceed the maximum limit.
Everything has two sides, if the amount of RADIATION of CT is controlled within a safe range, it is an irreplaceable powerful weapon in the diagnosis of diseases!
Through CT scans, basically most diseases can be "seen to die". For example, tumor diseases of various systems, including liver cancer, stomach cancer, ovarian cancer, bowel cancer, etc.; vascular diseases, including aneurysms, vascular malformations, etc.; inflammation, including tuberculosis, cholecystitis, etc.; trauma: intracranial hemorrhage, lung contusion, etc.
In addition, common cerebral hemorrhage and herniated discs can not only be detected by CT, but also the preferred diagnosis and treatment method.
As the doctor's "third eye", CT imaging technology greatly improves the accuracy of diagnosis. However, for safety reasons, some patients wonder: Why do I need to do enhanced CT for the same symptoms? Is it necessary?
Flat scan CT is the most basic CT test, and patients can complete the test directly on their back without other intervention. It is generally suitable for the diagnosis of diseases such as trauma to the five features of the skull, inflammation of the chest and abdomen, fractures of the spine and limb joints, degeneration and so on.
Enhanced CT is a PLUS version of flat CT that requires an injection of an iodine-containing contrast agent prior to examination. Since it is called the enhanced version, it will naturally be more accurate than flat scan CT, and the scope of application is wider, which can provide valuable information for the qualitative diagnosis of lesions.
It should be noted that iodine contrast is not suitable for all patients, such as those with significant hyperthyroidism, and there is a risk of allergy with iodine contrast, so it is usually not done until a doctor has evaluated it before performing an enhanced CT.
Treat the amount of radiation, do not "shoot to death", CT is used in such a wide range, the benefits are definitely greater than the negative impact. Or the old saying: talking about harm without dose is "playing hooligans". If you have any doubts about CT examination, you are also welcome to ask them in the comments section or share your own opinions. #Health Science Contest ##健康明星计划 #
Resources: [1] "How much radiation damage is caused by imaging examination". Xinhuanet.2019-11-01 [2] How many times a year does CT cause cancer? This result is beyond your expectations". Jiangxi Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine.2020-06-12
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