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Answer to Question #2868 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"Category: Pregnancy and Radiation — Conception after exposures The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field: Q
In 1984 at the age of 13 I was hit by a car. I had begun menstruating a year earlier. I had a large number of x rays to my head, back, and pelvis. As I smashed my pelvis, I continued to have pelvic x rays throughout my two-month hospital stay, and two more in the years to come. I have no idea of the radiation dose administered to me at the time, I had about 10 pelvic x rays altogether and I presume the x-ray machines were less sophisticated in their dose precision in 1984. My hysband and I now want to start a family. I am now 32. Could the x rays have damaged my ovaries? I stopped menstruating for a few years after the accident though I menstruate normally now. I had a miscarriage last year and wonder about my chances.
A
Obviously it would be difficult to determine the exposure that your ovaries received following your accident. But you are fortunate because x-ray exposure to your ovaries from diagnostic radiation represent a very low reproductive risk. The dose was spread over time which further reduces the potential effects of the radiation. The more time that has elapsed since the exposure, the lower the risk. There are two large study populations, the survivors in Japan who were exposed to the atomic bomb and cancer survivors who received radiation to the abdomen. Both these groups do not exhibit any increase in birth defects or genetic disease, once they get pregnant. At very high exposures, which you did not have, males and females can become infertile, but you did not sustain that kind of exposure. You should be going to a high-risk pregnancy expert (perinatologist) for your care. Your risks for birth defects and miscarriage are 3% and 15% respectively. These are the background risks that every woman faces when she becomes pregnant. About 7% of couples are infertile. Good luck with your pregnancy. Robert Brent MD, PhD
Answer posted on 25 August 2003. The information and material posted on this Web site is intended as general reference information only. Specific facts and circumstances may alter the concepts and applications of materials and information described herein. The information provided is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon in the absence of such professional advice specific to whatever facts and circumstances are presented in any given situation. Answers are correct at the time they are posted on the Web site. Be advised that over time, some requirements could change, new data could be made available, or Internet links could change. For answers that have been posted for several months or longer, please check the current status of the posted information prior to using the responses for specific applications.
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