CT scans, commonly used in medical imaging, may increase the risk of brain tumours, a study has found. The use of computed tomography (CT) scans has increased dramatically over the last two decades. CT scans greatly improve diagnostic capabilities, which in turn improve clinical outcomes. However, they deliver higher radiation doses, and can especially affect children who are more susceptible to radiation-related malignancies than adults, researchers said.
The most common malignancies caused by radioactivity among children and young adults are leukaemia and brain tumours. Researchers from Netherlands Cancer Institute evaluated leukaemia and brain tumour risks following exposure to radiation from CT scans in childhood. For a group of 168,394 Dutch children who received one or more CT scans between 1979 and 2012, researchers obtained cancer incidence and vital status by record linkage.…
