| 摘要: | OBJECTIVE. Medical radiation–induced cataracts, especially those resulting from head
and neck CT studies, are an issue of concern. The current study aimed to determine the risk
of cataract associated with repeated radiation exposure from head and neck CT.
MATERIALS AND METHODS. This study used information from a random sample
of 2 million persons enrolled in the nationally representative Taiwan National Health Insurance
Research Database. Exposed cases consisted of patients with head and neck tumor 10–
50 years old who underwent at least one CT between 2000 and 2009. The nonexposed control
group was composed of subjects who were never exposed to CT studies but who were
matched by time of enrollment, age, sex, history of coronary artery disease, hypertension,
and diabetes.
RESULTS. There were 2776 patients in the exposed group and 27,761 matched subjects in
the nonexposed group. The exposed group had higher overall incidence of cataracts (0.97%
vs 0.72%; adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.76; 95% CI, 1.18–2.63). Further stratifying the number of CT studies in the exposed group into one or two, three or four, and five or more revealed that cataract incidence increased gradually with increasing frequency of CT studies (0.79%,0.93%, and 1.45%, respectively) (p = 0.001, adjusted for trend). Radiation exposure due to
repeated head and neck CT studies was independently associated with an increased risk of developing cataracts when the cumulative CT exposure frequency involved more than four studies (adjusted HR, 2.12; 95% CI, 1.09–4.14).CONCLUSION. Repeated exposure to head and neck CT is significantly associated
with increased risk of cataract. |
