What are the dangers of head CT

Head CT, also known as brain CT, is a common method of examining the brain. When craniocerebral trauma occurs, brain CT is the most important imaging examination method. Brain CT examination can detect and show whether there is a tumor in the brain, the location and size of the tumor, etc. In addition, it has a good examination effect on the calcification and spread of intratumoral bleeding. When doing brain CT, take good safety precautions and there will generally be no harm.

1. Is it harmful to the body to do a brain CT scan?

CT is the abbreviation of computerized X-ray tomography technology. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and interventional radiology also use X-rays. The gonads, eye lenses, breasts and thyroid glands in the human body are particularly sensitive to radiation. If exposed to long-term, high-dose radiation, it may cause cataracts, sterilization, growth retardation, and even induce malignant tumors or leukemia.

2. Safety precautions should be taken when doing brain CT

During the examination, the doses used in X-ray fluoroscopy and photography are very small and within the safe range. The X-ray dose absorbed by the human body in one X-ray is equivalent to the amount absorbed by watching TV for 1 hour; and the dose of a chest X-ray is equivalent to 1.5 times that of an X-ray. If we talk about harm, the damage of a chest X-ray is equivalent to smoking 3 cigarettes. Generally, the site selection, wall, door and window construction of CT rooms have certain standards and have certain protective functions. If they are all standard, there should be no problem. Is it harmful to the body to do a brain CT scan?

3. If you rarely do a brain CT scan, you don’t have to worry too much about the harm.

Many people worry about the harm of brain CT scans, but whenever we check for some diseases, it is inevitable to do this examination. In people's minds, brain CT scans will cause some sequelae, such as leukemia or brain cancer. Radiation is inevitable when doing this kind of examination, but the risk of developing serious illnesses is quite exaggerated. Let's learn some knowledge about brain CT.

For radiation, you need to understand some basic concepts first. Radiation is omnipresent in the space we live in, which is professionally called "background". It comes from radioactive substances in our lives (such as radioactive gases in our homes) and cosmic rays from outer space. The commonly used unit of radiation dose is mSv, and the "background" is approximately 3mSv per year (varies from place to place). The radiation dose of a chest X-ray is very small, and the radiation dose of a brain CT scan is also relatively small. Adding the two together, the level is 2.1mSv, which is equivalent to the background radiation level for more than half a year. The probability of developing cancer is at a "low" level, which means that the lifetime risk of cancer is between one in a thousand and one in ten thousand.