I was 6.5 mo. pregnant when doctors scheduled a CAT scan on my lungs. At that time I had no clue about possible danger for my child. However now, after reading all these articles on the Web, my life could be described by one single word "FEAR". I’m afraid for my daughter now and most importatly for her future. People with similar experiences please be so kind and share with me how is your kids’ health? I thank you in advance.
There are two things working in your favor here….you were past your first trimester (a fetus is more radiosensitive very early in a pregnancy) and the CT scan was of an area other than your pelvis. X-rays do not fly all willy nilly around a room. They are highly directed and concentrated beams of radiation, which expose only the area of interest…in your case, your lungs. Your baby probably got very little, if any radiation from this CT scan. I urge you to talk to your OB/GYN, as he/she can probably reassure you better than anyone on this forum.
The following is taken from a website which has questions answered by qualified medical personel who are experts in radiation and it’s effects. Here is what I found:
"There should be no effects from the chest x ray or the
chest CT scan. The risks to the baby are minimal, if any, when x rays are taken of areas other than the abdomen. This is because the x-ray beam is focused only on the area of interest in order to minimize doses to other areas of the body. When you receive a diagnostic x-ray study of your head, teeth, chest, arms, or legs at a qualified facility, the
exposure of the x rays is not to your baby. The "scatter" that might reach the baby would be extremely small and would not represent an increased risk for birth defects or miscarriage to your embryo."
http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q2720.html
"QUESTION: I just had a chest CT and am worried about the effect on my baby. I am 15 weeks pregnant (13 weeks fetal age) and they thought I might be having a clot in my lung, so they did the chest CT. Will this have any impact on my baby? They put two layers of lead shields on my pelvic region and said the x rays were only shot above that part anyway (my lungs). My concern is the iodine stuff they put in my veins. I didn’t realize that was radioactive. I drank tons of water today to try to flush it out of my system. Will that hurt the baby?
ANSWER: There should be no effects from the chest CT scan. The risks to the baby are minimal, if any, when x rays are taken of areas other than the abdomen. This is because the x-ray beam is focused only on the area of interest in order to minimize doses to other areas of the body. When you receive a diagnostic x-ray study of your head, teeth, chest, arms, or legs at a qualified facility, the exposure of the x rays is not to your baby. The "scatter" that might reach the baby would be extremely small and would not represent an increased risk for birth defects or miscarriage to your embryo. As for the iodine that was used, it is not radioactive. It is used as a contrast agent—meaning that the doctors were able to see some areas within the body better with this contrast agent in them.
Kelly Classic
Certified Medical Health Physicist "
http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q2804.html
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