I can't speak personally but a very close friend of mine had several scans done while she was pregnant (one was at 20 weeks I think) and she was warned that there was a very small chance her baby could be damaged but that they really couldn't tell in what way. She had to have the scans done because there was a chance she'd have a brain haemmorrage. As it was, her little girl is now nearly 2 years old and perfectly fine.

I found this at :http://www.Hps.Org/publicinformation/ate/ q374.Html

.Q: I am in my eighth week of pregnancy. In the beginning of my pregnancy, around two weeks, I had some abdominal x rays and a ct scan done of my abdomen. I've read that the damage from the abdominal x ray is minimal, but what about the ct scan? What possible damage can occur (if any) from that?
A: we told the person asking this question that the conceptus dose from such a ct examination is between 12 mgy and 30 mgy (1.2 rad and 3 rad) according to exposure of the pregnant patient to diagnostic radiations, (medical physics publishing, madison, wisconsin). However, we cautioned her that the precise dose depends on the machine and techniques used, the size of the patient, etc. We pointed out that the national council on radiation protection, 1977, said: "the risk [of abnormaility] is considered to be negligible at 5 rad or less when compared to other risks of pregnancy, and the risk of malformations is significantly increased above control levels only at doses above 15 rad. Therefore, exposure of the fetus to radiation arising from diagnostic procedures would very rarely be cause, by itself, for terminating a pregnancy." we suggested that she get specific information on the dose to the conceptus from the procedure she had and, that if she had any further questions, she personally contact our expert on radiation exposures during pregnancy. Her reply to us was: "thank you so much for the information! I feel very reassured. I was searching all over the web looking for information on cts during pregnancy and found nothing until I found your site. "

genevieve s. Roessler, phd
editor, hps web site


speak to your doctor if you are worried.


Best of luck!

I read your questions and feel the same way. I just had a ct scan done on my abdomin and was told there were more problems with my right ovarie and they wanted to remove it. The day i went in for surgery they took another pregnancy test and this time it came up positive. That means i was pregnant at the time of the scan but it just didn't show yet. I obviously cancelled my surgery but am very worried about the affects the scan would of had on the baby. If anyone has any thoughts please let me know.

My sister live in Cuba and she had also a CT Scan (Lumbar) done during her 3 to 4 week of pregnancy.

She is really worried and I do not know how to help her out.

Please any advise?

Thank you
Eli

Hi there

The following article by Steve Ford appeared in the Nursingtimes.net in May 2008

The safety of magnetic resonance imaging for nurses and other staff is to be investigated by the Health Protection Agency.
The agency said that it had approved ‘in principle’ the need for an epidemiological study of possible adverse effects from high static field MRI imaging machines, due to lack of current evidence.

It is expected to carry out the research as part of an international collaborative study on behalf of the World Health Organization. The HPA, which will lead the work, said it was now assessing the study’s feasibility with the aim of launching it as soon as possible.
‘The exposures to patients and medical staff from the magnetic fields can be high and there is a shortage of information on possible adverse long-term health effects,’ said HPA chairperson Sir William Stewart.
The announcement follows a report from the agency’s independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation.

The group’s chairperson, Professor Anthony Swerdlow, said: ‘There is a pressing need for a well-conducted study of mortality and cancer incidence in workers with high occupational exposures to static magnetic fields, particularly those associated with medical MRI scanners.’

If there is a danger for staff behind protective shielding, I have a fair idea that the patients, who are NOT protected, might be endangered as well.

Mobile phones, too, are reported as a causal factor in the formation of tumors in the brain because of electro-magnetic radiation.

Good luck

Kinetico

I just found out that I am about 5-6wks pregnant and i had a CT scan done 2 wks ago were I was injected with radiation. What kind of affects can this have on my baby?

A patient in her 8weeks pregnancy had a head injury. Is ct head in 8 weeks pregnancy harmful?

I was reading the posts and first I wanted to see if everything turned out ok so far for everyone that had a ct scan, esp abdominal/pelvic ct scans.
I went in for a CT scan last week because of severe stomach pain and I took a pregnancy test first because I wasn't sure but it was negative. My Dr. ordered an abdominal and pelvic CT. I went in for the test and two days later my pregnancy test showed up positive, so I was almost 4 weeks pregnant!!
I am trying to get the radiologist at the hospital to give me an idea of the amount of radiation I was exposed too but they have to contact a physicist to get the exact amount which could take up to two weeks!
From everything I have read the damage to the fetus is very slight under 50mGy. The average for both tests though can range from 25mgy - 100my (which is a big difference). Does anyone know the approximate amount of radiation used in most hospitals for both tests and were you able to get this information directly from your radiologists if you had the tests done. It seems they should be able to give me some sort of range instead of making me wait in agony for two weeks.
Thank you!