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Medical experts aim to reduce radiation doses from computed tomography ( CT ) scan for young, growing bodies. Families have reason to be alert to risks associated with diagnostic tests such as CT scans. Kids' changing bodies and brains are especially sensitive to ionizing radiation from X-rays used in the exams. And because children have longer to live than adults, they're more likely to experience delayed effects of radiation exposure, notably a small potential increased risk of cancer.

That's not a cause to shun the tests, medical experts agree. The medical imaging is an extraordinary tool that allows doctors to make diagnoses, select optimal treatments and save lives, they say.

But it does warrant caution, and medical professionals have been adopting measures to reduce children's radiation exposure. These include adjusting CT scanner settings for smaller bodies, imaging only those areas under medical investigation and using other tests, such as ultrasound and MRI , whenever possible.

Yet problems remain. Some hospitals and freestanding imaging centers continue to administer adult-size doses of radiation to children, experts report. Facilities also sometimes scan children repeatedly without cause or expose children's breasts, eyes, thyroids and genitals to unnecessary radiation by scanning too broadly or failing to use protective shields.

"We still have a way to go in terms of optimizing these examinations," said Dr. Donald Frush, chief of pediatric radiology at Duke University Hospital, acknowledging the shortcomings in the medical field.

About 7 million CT scans are administered to children every year; the number is expanding nearly 10 percent annually, according to a 2008 review of radiation risks associated with CT scans for kids in Current Opinion in Pediatrics. Almost one-third of the tests are given to children in their first decade of life.

Source: Chicago Tribune