Computed tomography, malignancies . . . and other stories
BMJ 2024; 384 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q50 (Published 18 January 2024) Cite this as: BMJ 2024;384:q50
Scans in children
A multinational European study of a million young people who had undergone at least one computed tomography (CT) imaging scan before the age of 22 finds the subsequent risk of haematological malignancies increases in proportion to the dose of ionising radiation received. A typical scan, with an exposure of around 8 mGy, increases the risk by about 16%. In absolute terms, this means that for every 10 000 children who have a CT scan, one or two will develop a haematological malignancy as a consequence of the scan during the 12 years following the examination (Nat Med doi:10.1038/s41591-023-02671-3).
Space farming
So far, human …
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