More than 300 patients may have received an overdose of radiation from a special type of CT scan used to image the brain.
The Food and Drug Administration says the radiation overdoses occurred at three hospitals in Los Angeles and one hospital in Huntsville, Ala. FDA says there could be many more cases at hospitals nationwide as the investigation unfolds.
The scan in question is called a "perfusion CT." After an injection, a brain scan is taken to examine blood vessels. Perfusion CT is typically done to diagnose a stroke or aneurysm.
Patients at the four hospitals who received excess radiation, were exposed to the equivalent of several thousand X-rays instead of the three-eight times the expected radiation dose.
The FDA has sent alerts to hospitals and health care facilities nationwide that perform these specialized CT scans, asking them to double-check the machines in order to assure that they are configured correctly.
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