Was I right not letting my doctor perform another CAT scan on me?
1 answer
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Last updated: May 19, 2011
Q
My doctor ordered a CAT scan to check for lung damage (I'd been coughing for many weeks.) He saw a dark spot. He wanted me to do another CAT scan a month later, to check for change. I refused, on the basis that I've heard that a CAT scan radiates as much as 300 times the power of a chest X-ray. He settled for a chest X-ray instead, which showed no change. Were my fears justified?
A
Andrew Putnam, M.D. is the director of the Palliative Care Program at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and Georgetown University.
100% helpful
In the situation you describe, I believe that the importance of an accurate picture of possible change outweighs the risk of the CT Scan. Yes the radiation exposure of a Ct Scan is much greater than that of an x-ray but the risks are still very small. Knowing as early as possible if there is growth in the mass is crucial. So I think that the very small increased cancer risk by a Ct Scan is outweighed by the need for knowledge of the mass.
