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09 February 2012

Answer to Question #6123 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Pregnancy and Radiation — Conception after exposures

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

When I was nine years old I shattered my pelvis (in 1992). I have had around 50 or more "diagnostic general imaging" x rays and at least six CT (computerized tomography) scans from that time to present day (I am 24). Because of the location of the injury, they have never been able to shield my ovaries. I have always been terribly worried that this will affect my fertility. Please offer me any information that you have. Whenever I have asked I have never received a straight answer from anyone, and I am looking to have children in the next year or so.

Thank you for your question. Since you don't say what the general x rays were or what the CT scans were, I'm going to assume they were all of the pelvis. According to the book Exposure of the Pregnant Patient to Diagnostic Radiations by Wagner, Lester and Saldana (1997) the total radiation dose to the ovaries would be estimated at 50 general exams x 0.2 rad per exam (rad is a unit of radiation dose) plus six CTs x 3 rad per CT for a total of about 28 rad to the ovaries.

While that is a relatively large radiation dose, it actually takes a dose nearly 10 times that to cause fertility/sterility issues (Hall and Giaccia 2006).

There should be no fertility issues related to the radiation you have received thus far.

Kelly Classic
Certified Medical Health Physicist

References

Hall EJ, Giaccia AJ. Radiobiology for the radiologist. 6^th Ed; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006.
Wagner LK, Lester RG, Saldana LR. Exposure of the pregnant patient to diagnostic radiations. Madison, WI: Med Phys Publishing; 1997.

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