Update about using ionizing radiological investigations in pregnancy: what are the fetal risks?

D. Boghițoiu, V. Nițescu, Ş. Nastasia, B. Danciu, A.A. Simionescu

Rezumat: Imaging investigations can help diagnose a wide range of acute or chronic diseases. The practitioner may face uncertainty when choosing targeted and rapid diagnosis or therapeutic intervention for pathologies associated to pregnancy. Also, mothers undergoing unintentionally, early in pregnancy, chest radiograph or dental X-ray may be anxious about the negative effect of radiation on the infant. In this article, we aim to update: 1) the fetal radiation exposure during different radiological investigations procedures; 2) to describe the main consequences of radiation exposure, depending on gestational age. In a justified medical situation, an exposure under 50 mGy used by the standard radiology procedures does not represent a risk for the fetus.
Cuvinte cheie: pregnancy, chest radiograph, CT, X-ray, mammography.