Radiation from medical tests is measured in units called millisieverts (mSv)—one mSv is equivalent to the estimate does of background radiation the average American absorbs in a year.
The first study, which was based on information from four San Francisco-area hostpials, median effective doses ranged from 2 mSv for a routine head scan to 31 mSv for a multiphase abdomen and pelvis scan. Radiation doses as low as 10 mSv have been linked to a higher cancer risk among survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb blasts.
Investigators say this issue is important because the use of diagnostic CT has leapt from, in 1980, 3 million scans nationwide to 70 million in 2007.
In the latest study, exposure varied greatly both within and between hospitals. Often, a 13-fold difference existed between the highest and lowest dose for each study type, "highlighting the need for greater standardization across institutions," the researchers wrote.
Both studies were published in the latest issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
Stocks of drug company Pfizer, who makes the popular 200FS CT unit, were down 3 cents, or .22%, to $18.36 in morning trading.
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