CT scans on children for hearing problems. Worried about radiation risks. Wait? Asking for a friend:
Last year when my son was four years old it was discovered that he has what our ENT called maximum conductive hearing loss in his left ear. A little over two years ago, his older brother had stuck an opened large paperclip into the ear that now has hearing loss. The ENT is unsure if the paper clip incident is related to the hearing loss but has not ruled it out entirely. A CT scan has been ordered to look for "ossicular discontinuity due to h/o trauma, congenital ossicular abnormality, or congenital otosclerosis" (even though he passed his hearing test at birth).
The reason for the CT is so the doctor can determine if my son is a candidate for ear surgery to repair whatever is causing the hearing loss. When my son was tested for hearing the audiologist told me that he is a great candidate for a hearing aid as well, as he could hear well from the ear in question when she had the settings placed at what a hearing aid would acheive for him.
My question is if it's worth getting a CT scan for a five year old. I have read that one CT scan can be the equivalent of 4000 chest x-rays and that a child has a 1 in 500 chance of developing cancer later because of the CT itself. Does anyone know how true these claims are? The CT would be of the temporal bones for conductive hearing loss in the middle ear. I am afraid that unless he is completely sedated he may move and the image will not be clear enough and they will have to take another one, which would only expose him to that much more radiation. I am hoping that if I ask for them to make sure the CT scanner is set for pediatric dosage they will actually put it on that setting.
Thanks for any advice anyone may have. You are not [a / my son's] doctor.
Last year when my son was four years old it was discovered that he has what our ENT called maximum conductive hearing loss in his left ear. A little over two years ago, his older brother had stuck an opened large paperclip into the ear that now has hearing loss. The ENT is unsure if the paper clip incident is related to the hearing loss but has not ruled it out entirely. A CT scan has been ordered to look for "ossicular discontinuity due to h/o trauma, congenital ossicular abnormality, or congenital otosclerosis" (even though he passed his hearing test at birth).
The reason for the CT is so the doctor can determine if my son is a candidate for ear surgery to repair whatever is causing the hearing loss. When my son was tested for hearing the audiologist told me that he is a great candidate for a hearing aid as well, as he could hear well from the ear in question when she had the settings placed at what a hearing aid would acheive for him.
My question is if it's worth getting a CT scan for a five year old. I have read that one CT scan can be the equivalent of 4000 chest x-rays and that a child has a 1 in 500 chance of developing cancer later because of the CT itself. Does anyone know how true these claims are? The CT would be of the temporal bones for conductive hearing loss in the middle ear. I am afraid that unless he is completely sedated he may move and the image will not be clear enough and they will have to take another one, which would only expose him to that much more radiation. I am hoping that if I ask for them to make sure the CT scanner is set for pediatric dosage they will actually put it on that setting.
Thanks for any advice anyone may have. You are not [a / my son's] doctor.