Additional Research

The below two letters are from imaging experts that I have spoken with directly in person and through e-mail. I encountered these experts at one of the surgical conferences I attend annually for work. We had very lengthy conversations during the conference and these letters are in response to my questions.

“…CT scans emit radiation and I said the eye is the most sensitive to radiation, and excessive exposure could cause cataracts . Receiving radiation at an early age should be deemed necessary to diagnose conditions that your physician needs answers for. I would advise you to contact a radiation physics professional in the hospital, all hospitals have one. Let him/her calculate the dose from the procedure. Radiation can cause cellular damage as you know the question is how much is too much. The Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan (USA) has a new non CT tomography system, the Shimadzu Tomosynthesis CT Scan, you might want to contact them also. The operation of this system is: one sweep with one exposure creates multiple layers via computer enhancement. You are looking into this the right way, be proactive and your daughter will benefit. If I can answer any other questions please let me know. Good luck and best wishes.

• Anonymous resource

Dear Ms Tumblin,

My colleagues forwarded your request to me. Unfortunately as a vendor we will not be able to make any suggestions on the applicability of a certain imaging technique to a specific clinical case nor estimate any dose levels associated with it. Having said that though, we will be happy to share with you some external resources than can actually answer your questions through medical experts. One of them is the Ped Rad Organization (visit the Image Gently section of the website for details) which is an alliance formed to create awareness for dose levels used onpediatric CT scans. Especially the following link (which is a part of the image gently website) would be very useful: http://www.pedrad.org. I believe they also offer to answer any questions you might have.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

– Anonymous resource

Siemens Healthcare USA Inc.

Computed Tomography

So, before you allow your child to have a CT scan, do your research. At least question if it absolutely has to be done right now or immediately following birth. It is suggested to have a CT scan of your child’s ear after the age of 2.5 years of age or 3 years of age if you are planning for canalplasty with Medpor and at 5 or six years of age if you are planning for canalplasty with Rib Graft surgery. Again, if you are planning on having Rib Graft surgery closer to the age of 10 year, then wait until then to have the CT scan taken. Good luck to everyone!

Melissa