A 47-year-old member asked:
Can head ct w&wo contrast cause brain tumors?
1 doctor answer • 6 doctors weighed in

Dr. Carl Deckeranswered
Radiology 26 years experience
Very little chance: Because our understanding of radiation induced cancer is incomplete, it is assumed that any exposure to radiation increases the risk of developing cancer. This is called the non-threshold model. According to a recent nejm article the risk is approximately 0.005% at age 35 that a single ct brain would cause death due to cancer. N engl j med 2007; 357:2277-2284. The risk is even smaller at > age.
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Last updated May 6, 2014
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