BMJ  2004;328:581 (6 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7439.581-a

Letter

Ionising radiation in infancy and adult cognitive function

Protocols for computed tomography must be optimised

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Hall et al report adverse effects on adult cognitive function among male patients treated with radiation for skin haemangioma during infancy.1 The evidence for effects was strongest among those receiving the highest doses.

It is unclear whether there was a dose threshold below which no effects occurred. This study of a sizeable cohort seems to be well conducted with minimal risk of bias. A group of patients with haemangioma was compared by brain dose rather than with an external group. Consequently confounding would seem plausible only if the severity of the clinical condition affected cognitive function and was correlated with brain dose.

Other studies have shown adverse effects of radiation on intellectual development, although interpretation is complicated because some studies used higher doses from exposures in utero or may have been subject to confounding.

Good radiation protection practice (reducing unnecessary exposures and minimising radiation doses) controls well established . . . [Full text of this article]

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Jill Meara, deputy director

jill.meara@nrpb.org

Gerry Kendall, head, population exposure department

Colin Muirhead, group leader, epidemiology

Barry Wall, group leader, medical dosimetry

National Radiological Protection Board, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0RQ


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