Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging

Answer: Gracias por contactar el foro de Pediatric Imaging Ask the Expert (Imagenes Pediatricas Pregunte al Experto) con su pregunta tan interesante. La imagen del MRI es segura y no es dolorosa si usted no tiene alguna pieza de ciertos metales en su cuerpo. La MRI es la abreviacion en ingles de Imagen de Resonancia Magnetica, este estudio usa poderosos magnetos para obtener las imagenes. Estas imagenes son muy utiles porque muestran en gran detalle lo que hay dentro de la parte del cuerpo en la que se la ha tomado la imagen. Como usted sabra ciertos metales son atraidos hacia magnetos y por tanto se mueven con mucha potencia hacia el magneto.

Un metal que ha entrado al cuerpo, por ejemplo, una bala o algun otro metal proveniente de un accidente industrial, ese metal se mueve hacia el magneto lesionando el cuerpo. La medicina moderna, sabiendo que MRI son parte importante del dianostico, ha creado implantes tales como protesis para articulaciones y clips para aneurismas que son hechos de titanio y que no son afectados por el magneto del MRI.

En cualquier lugar que usted se haga una MRI se le va a cuestionar con una larga lista de preguntas para asegurar que usted no tenga alguna pieza de metal en su cuerpo y de esa manera hacer la MRI sin ningun riesgo. Cuando usted llegue para su cita del MRI, el personal de la locacion se asegurara de que usted no traiga ninguna pieza metalica de joyeria puesta y de que saque cualquier pieza de metal que pueda traer en sus bolsillos.

Algunas veces se les inyecta una solucion intravenosa (medio de contraste) durante la MRI para que ciertos tejidos del cuerpo puedan ser vistos con mas claridad en las imagenes. Estas inyecciones de medio de contraste tienen pocos riesgos, los cuales le seran explicados antes de la aplicacion de la misma. Si a usted no se le explico de ello cuando firmo la forma del consentimiento para el estudio, entonces probablemente no sera parte del MRI de su hijo, pero usted puede preguntar para estar seguro.

El otro problema que se debe considerar es si su hijo puede mantenerse tranquilo, sin movimiento alguno durante el procedimiento del MRI, el cual puede tomar media hora o mas. Algunas personas se inquietan mucho adentro de la maquina del scan que tiene forma como de tunel. Usted puede preguntar si su hijo tendra una “MRI abierta”, la cual no parece tanto como un tunel. Sin embargo, la mayoria de las personas no tienen ningun problema. Muchas personas se quedan dormidas durante el estudio del MRI y en ocasiones se les pone musica.

Para saber de las locaciones de MRI en Houston que son atendidas por los Radiologos de la UT y hacer una cita llame al 713-704-6500 para Children’s Memorial Hermann, o al 713-526-4243 para LBJ Hospital.

Answer: Thank you for contacting the Pediatric Imaging Ask the Expert forum with this very interesting question. MRI imaging is very safe, painless as long as you don’t have certain kinds of metal in your body. The MRI, short for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, uses a very powerful magnet to obtain images, or pictures. These images are very useful because they show, in great detail, what is inside the part of the body that has been imaged. As you might know, certain metals are attracted to magnets, and move towards the magnet with a very strong pull.

Metal that has entered the body, for example, a gunshot or from an industrial accident, would move towards the magnet, injuring the body. Modern medicine, realizing that MRI is such an important part of diagnosis, has created implants such as artificial joints and aneurysm clips made from titanium which is not affected by the magnet.

Every facility that does MRI imaging will ask you a long list of questions to make sure that if there is metal in your body, it is still OK to put you under the scanner. When you arrive for the appointment, the MRI staff will make sure that you remove any metal jewelry and remove anything that is metal from your pockets.

Sometimes, an intravenous injection is used during the MRI which makes certain tissues in the body stand out more clearly in the images. These contrast injections have a few risks, which should be described to you beforehand. If you weren’t told about this in the consent form for the study, it is not likely that it is part of the MRI for your child, but you can ask to be sure.

The only other problem to be concerned about is whether your child can stay calm during the imaging procedure, which can take a half hour or more. Some people become very anxious inside the tunnel-like scanning machine. You can ask whether your child will be having an “open MRI”, which is not so tunnel-like. For most people, though, this is not a problem. Many people can fall asleep during the scan, and often music is played for you during the scan.

To learn about Houston area MRI facilities which are served by the UT Radiologists, please call 713-704-6500 for Children’s Memorial Hermann, or 713-526-4243 for LBJ Hospital scheduling.

Answer: Thank you for contacting the Pediatric Imaging Ask the Expert forum. It is difficult to see your child having to go through tests and procedures. The danger of radiation exposure is not in any individual test, but in the lifetime accumulation of exposure for every person. The small risk of the additional exposure to radiation for your son from this test has been weighed by his pediatrician against the more urgent danger of the illness for which your son is being evaluated. You can take some comfort in the fact that the Memorial Hermann and LBJ Hospital imaging facilities have recently undergone a detailed review of their imaging equipment and policies regarding radiation doses for adults and children as part of the Image Gently program developed by the American College of Radiology (ACR). Our facilities have a team of Radiation Safety experts who are constantly working to keep the radiation exposure as low as possible for every type of scan.