Research by 51小黄车medical student Rob Zondervan on CT scan risks is covered by national media
A study by second-year 51小黄车College of Osteopathic Medicine student Rob Zondervan and colleagues indicating that the benefits of CT scans may outweigh cancer risk for young adults was published Feb. 5th in the journal and covered by a number of media outlets, including
The new study of young people who underwent CT scans suggests that their risk of dying from a condition related to their radiation exposure is far less than dying from the original disease they faced. Co-investigators for the study are Susanna Lee M.D., Ph.D., and Peter Hahn M.D. Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital.
In addition to U.S. News and World Report, , Medscape, DOTmed.com, Diagnostic Imaging, Science Codex and others also covered the publication of the study.
"From a radiologist's point of view, this actually helps me have a more informed discussion with my patients when we're talking about the risks and benefits of getting a scan," Lee told the media. "It gives me a better assessment as far as explaining what they're up against. It favors getting more information."
The study initially received national attention in May 2012 at the American Roentgen Ray Society annual meeting in Vancouver, when Zondervan and his colleagues first presented their research. At that time , MSN Health, Health Day, MedPageToday.com, and dozens of other online media outlets ran stories on research.
In May Zondervan told AuntMinnie.com (a news outlet for radiologists) that he hopes the study will affect thinking about CT in two ways.
"We now have a list of common CT indications where people interested in radiation reduction can focus their efforts to have maximal impact, and also we now provide mortality rates for these patients showing that, yes, radiation reduction is very important, but also that these patients are at higher risk than the average person, even someone receiving just one scan," he said.
"So it's OK to use CT scanning: These patients are at risk, and the risk of dying from the underlying morbidity is much higher than the risk of dying from radiation-induced cancer," Zondervan said.
"Lowering CT x-ray dose would proportionately decrease the predicted number of radiation- induced cancers, but dose reduction needs to occur in ways that do not result in greater radiologist uncertainty."
Before entering UNE's medical school, Zondervan, was an imaging analysis specialist at the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center: Tumor Imaging Metrics Core in Boston.