What are the effects of CT scans on children?

When you go to the hospital for a check-up, many diseases need to be diagnosed through CT. However, the radiation from CT scans is very high and can cause temporary changes in the body and even some unexpected consequences. Children's bodies are very fragile and easily affected by the outside world, so we cannot casually perform CT scans on children. If we must, we must consult a doctor carefully. So, what are the effects of CT scans on children?

In addition to the factor of gender, Associate Professor Chu Jianping mentioned that different types of CT scans have different effects on children.

Different CT machines have different models, and the radiation dose is indeed different. Because with the development of CT machines, its rows are increasing, the scanning time is getting faster and faster, and it has better algorithms to reduce radiation dose. The traditional filtering algorithm has been replaced by the current iterative algorithm.

The iterative algorithm greatly reduces the radiation dose of CT. The radiation dose of a new multi-row CT, such as a 320-row CT, will be much lower than that of a traditional 64-row CT, probably only 1/4-1/5 of the original. Therefore, choosing different types of CT machines will have an impact on the examination.

In addition, CT scans of different parts of the body (such as the brain and abdomen) have different effects on children. Studies have shown that CT scans of the abdomen are more likely to cause cancer in the future than CT scans of the brain, and the incidence of cancer may be about twice that of brain scans.