Ahmadreza Najafi, Akbar Aliasgharzadeh, Bagher Farhood, Mehran Mohseni, Habiballah Moradi,
Volume 28, Issue 3 (8-2024)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Exposure to ionizing radiation from repeated CT scan examinations increases the risk of solid cancers and leukemia. This study aims to evaluate the cancer risk associated with chest CT radiation doses in COVID-19 patients at Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, Iran.
Methods: Between January 20 and March 29, 2022, high-resolution chest CT images were obtained from 2,471 COVID-19 patients, with a mean age of 54 years. Using the average doses calculated by IndoseCT software, we estimated the Lifetime Attributable Risk (LAR) of major cancers for each patient, following the methodology outlined in the BEIR VII report.
Results: The mean effective dose was 3.47 millisieverts for women and 3.92 millisieverts for men. For men with COVID-19, lung cancer was identified as a major risk, with a mean LAR of 9.5 per 100,000 individuals. In women with COVID-19, lung, breast, and thyroid cancers were the major risk, with mean LARs of 19.7, 18.4, and 6.4 per 100,000 individuals, respectively. The overall mean LAR for solid cancers and leukemia across the entire population was estimated to be 19.4 and 1.7 per 100,000 individuals, respectively.
Conclusion: Despite a significant increase in chest CT examinations due to COVID-19 at Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, the overall cancer risk remains very low (LAR<20) according to the qualitative assessment by the World Health Organization.