Infants received equivalent of 12 natural background radiation days in intensive care unit
FRIDAY, Dec. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Among a group of very low-birth-weight infants treated in a neonatal intensive care unit, radiation exposure from conventional radiographs was low compared to yearly natural background radiation, according to research published in the December issue of Pediatrics.
Kathrin Puch-Kapst, M.D., of the Clinic of Neonatology Charité Campus Mitte in Berlin, and colleagues analyzed data from 212 infants (median birth weight, 1,100 grams), of which 194 needed at least one conventional radiograph.
The researchers found the median effective dose to be 16 µSv per radiograph and 71.5 µSv per infant for the entire hospital stay. Infants required a median of four radiographs. Factors associated with risk for high numbers of radiographs and high radiation dose included birth weight of 750 grams or less, hospital stay of 16 weeks or more, and congenital malformations. The median cumulative effective dose is equivalent to 12 additional natural background radiation days.
"The results presented here indicate that radiation exposure was low compared with the benefits gained, even for the extremely and severely sick preterm neonates in this cohort. It is important, however, to monitor and document radiation exposure carefully. Optimization of technical conditions and reduction of the number of radiographs are important for radiation protection," the authors write.
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