Pregnancy and medical radiation

Abstract

IntroductionA non-negligible number of pregnant patients and radiation professionals are exposed to ionizing radiation for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, each year. The lack or even the wrong information results in excessive stress and, in many cases unjustified termination of the pregnancy. Materials and methodsInternational Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 84 concerns the management of pregnant patients as well as pregnant workers in medical establishments where ionizing radiation is used. Based on the above report and the recent literature, this work discusses how to deal with these matters which are: Medically necessary radiation exposure of a pregnant woman, radiation-induced malformations, pre-conception radiation, handling of pregnant or probably pregnant patient in the hospital, absorbed dose to the fetus in Conventional and Interventional Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Therapy, dose limits for pregnant workers, research involving pregnant women, termination of pregnancy. Results & discussionWe have shown that, the vast majority of conventional radiographic procedures and the majority of diagnostic procedures in nuclear medicine are at doses much lower than the exposure associated with fetal harm. In contrast, Radiation Therapy, multiple CT scans, certain therapies in nuclear medicine, and Invasive Radiology can potentially cause serious damage to the fetus. Termination of pregnancy depends on many medical, psychological and social factors.Specific goals of this work are to outline and evaluate the risks to the conceptus when exposed to radiodiagnostic and radiotherapeutic procedures during the various stages of pregnancy, to manage and evaluate radiation doses, to recommend means to control, and to evaluate communication issues with the pregnant patients.