Low-Dose Computed Tomography for the Optimization of Radiation Dose Exposure in Patients with Crohn's Disease.

Low-Dose Computed Tomography for the Optimization of Radiation Dose Exposure in Patients with Crohn's Disease. Gastroenterol Res Pract. 2018;2018:1768716 Authors: Kavanagh RG, O'Grady J, Carey BW, McLaughlin PD, O'Neill SB, Maher MM, O'Connor OJ Abstract Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the mainstay method for the radiological imaging of the small bowel in patients with inflammatory bowel disease without the use of ionizing radiation. There are circumstances where imaging using ionizing radiation is required, particularly in the acute setting. This usually takes the form of computed tomography (CT). There has been a significant increase in the utilization of computed tomography (CT) for patients with Crohn's disease as patients are frequently diagnosed at a relatively young age and require repeated imaging. Between seven and eleven percent of patients with IBD are exposed to high cumulative effective radiation doses (CEDs) (>35-75 mSv), mostly patients with Crohn's disease (Newnham E 2007, Levi Z 2009, Hou JK 2014, Estay C 2015). This is primarily due to the more widespread and repeated use of CT, which accounts for 77% of radiation dose exposure amongst patients with Crohn's disease (Desmond et al., 2008). Reports of the projected cancer risks from the increasing CT use (Berrington et al., 2007) have led to increased patient awareness regarding the potential health risks from ionizing radiation (Coakley et al., 2011). Our re...
Source: Gastroenterology Research and Practice - Category: Gastroenterology Tags: Gastroenterol Res Pract Source Type: research