New Concerns About Stroke Scans?

It’s bad enough that a person is concerned about the possibility of a stoke. The doctor has them undergo a CT brain perfusion scan. The results are waited for, but then the person’s hair starts falling out. Why? Because of overdoses from the machine.

The Food and Drug Administration has been investigating these cases and finding that patients tested with this complex, yet lightly regulated technology were bombarded with excessive radiation. Their report is yet to come out. But, the initial information should be a cause for great concern.

The New York Times has reported that there have been over 400 incidents of these overdoses. Noting that:

Even when done properly, CT brain perfusion scans deliver a large dose of radiation — the equivalent of about 200 X-rays of the skull. But there are no hard standards for how much radiation is too much

There is the possibility that there are many other people out there who have no idea why their hair is falling out. The Times reported that one of the people they contacted thought it was the hair product he was using. The report from the FDA will hopefully shine some more light on what is going on and lead to some much needed regulation.