CTCA 3D images of heart disease may be more dangerous to young women

William Atkins
Thursday, 02 August 2007 20:55

Science - Health

U.S. medical researchers have found that Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography (CTCA), which takes three-dimensional (3D) pictures of the heart to look for coronary heart disease, may involve more danger to the health of younger women than older men and women.

According to the medical community, computed tomography coronary angiography has become a common diagnostic test. However, as of yet there is little scientific data relating to its usage and the risk from cancer.

One recent study has delved into learning more about this possible relationship.

Lead by U.S. scientist Andrew J. Einstein, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology and Department of Radiology, Columbia University (New York City), the researchers discovered that the normally used double dose of x-ray radiation from CTCA (when compared to the single dose from conventional computed tomography [CT] scans) may cause more risk for cancer in women in their twenties than in other age groups of men and women.
 
Einstein and fellow collaborators found that radiation from one CTCA scan causes a 1 in 3,261 chance of cancer, on average, in an eighty-year-old man, while a twenty-year-old woman had a 1 in 143 chance, on average.

The study was written up in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association, volume 298, pages 317-323), from the American Medical Association. The article is entitled “Estimating Risk of Cancer Associated With Radiation Exposure From 64-Slice Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography”. Along with Einstein, the fellow collaborators include Milena J. Henzlova and Sanjay Rajagopalan.

This article was based on the article “Risky scan?” within the magazine New Scientist, July 21-27, 2007, page 7.