n SA Journal of Radiology - Irradiating of children : whose responsibility? : editorial

Abstract

No one in the practice of medicine today can deny the incredible advances and impact that computed tomography has had on how we display anatomy and visualise pathology. We entered the 21st century with over 60 million CT studies a year in the USA - and that number climbing. Spiral or helical technology meant greater coverage in less time, and multiple scans related to contrast administration became standard. Increasing availability of CT scanners allowed increasing utilisation. The annual increase of approximately 10% in CT studies has occurred with only a 1% population increase. Of the 377 million diagnostic and interventional studies performed in the USA in 2006, 67 million were CT scans - yet these CT scans contributed 49% of all medical radiation dose.