Brown University researchers reviewed the use of CT in pregnant women between 2006 and 2013. They tracked patient age, gestational age at the time of CT, indications for the study, final impression, radiation dose, and any additional imaging exams performed within one week for the same complaint.
During the study time frame, 440 CT exams were performed in pregnant patients, with 24 women having two CT exams during the same pregnancy, according to presenter Dr. Joseph Konrad. Average patient age was 27 and average gestational age at the time of the CT exam was 27 weeks. The most common reason for the CT exams was shortness of breath (33%), and the most common CT exams were for pulmonary embolus (44%), followed by CT of the abdomen and pelvis (33%). Average overall radiation dose for all patients was 27.6 mGy.
Among the 440 CT exams, 21% identified positive, acute findings. CT utilization per 1,000 pregnancies was 6.1 between 2006 and 2007, and this rate increased to 8.1 between 2008 and 2009, Konrad's group found. But from 2012 to 2013, use of CT in this cohort of pregnant women decreased 50%, from the peak rate of 8.1 per 1,000 patients to 4.1.
Konrad and colleagues attributed the decline to increased patient and provider awareness of the need to reduce radiation exposure, particularly in this population.
