700 - Radiation exposure on neuroimaging, what clinicians need to know

Objectives:
Patients are becoming increasingly aware of the repercussions of neuroimaging and clinicians are often asked questions from patients regarding radiation exposure and the possible negative impact on their health. It is important that physiatrists and referring clinicians can explain the total mount of radiation exposure and associated risks to their patents in a language that will be easy for them to comprehend. We conducted this study in order to describe the amount of radiation exposure and potential risks associated with common imaging modalities utilized by clinical physiatrists in the management of their patients.

Design:
We reviewed common modalities such as CT brain with and without contrast, CT angiography, MRI with and without contrast, and their associated radiation exposure. Moreover, we also reviewed the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle to compare the radiation exposure from these commonly used imaging modalities to non-medical activities such as airline flights in order to help clinicians better convey the risks to their patients.

Results: CT Brain with and without contrast resulted in an approximate effective radiation dose of 1.6 mSv. Which was significantly less compared to CT Angiography which had an approximate effective radiation dose of 8.7 mSv, but less than MRI which had no associated radiation exposure. These numbers can be effectively related to radiation exposure from commercial flights which is approximatly 0.003 mSv per hour.

Conclusions: CT brain, CTA and MRI are commonly used each year in the United States for the diagnosis of different neurological and musculoskeletal conditions. Although each imaging modality has associated levels of radiation exposure, it is important to convey this information to patients in a language they will comprehend. When clinicians utilize comparisons between radiation exposure of imaging modalities to common everyday activities, patients are better able to understand the risks associated with each diagnostic procedure.