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Burden of diagnostic radiation exposure in children with sickle cell disease
Author(s) -
Vetter Courtney L.,
Buchanan George R.,
Quinn Charles T.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
pediatric blood and cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.116
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1545-5017
pISSN - 1545-5009
DOI - 10.1002/pbc.24956
Subject(s) - medicine , disease , radiation exposure , intensive care medicine , pediatrics , pathology , nuclear medicine
Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) are repeatedly exposed to diagnostic radiation. We identified 938 children with SCD who had 9,246 radiographic tests. Mean number of tests/patient was 9.9 (95% CI: 8.9–10.9) over 8,817 patient‐years. Mean rate was 1.5 tests/year (95% CI: 1.3–1.6). On average, a child with SCD will have 26.7 (95% CI: 24.1–29.3) radiographic tests by 18 years of age, and 5% will have ≥100 tests. Six percent have ≥3 CT scans, which may be associated with an increased risk of cancer. Strong consideration should be given to limiting the exposure of children with SCD to radiation. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2014;61:1322–1324. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.