Overuse of CT-scan raises risk of cancer: AIIMS Director

A top government health advisor on Monday cautioned against overuse of CT-scan for diagnosis of Covid-19 saying excessive use could cause cancer.

“There have been studies which show that around 30-40 per cent of people who are asymptomatic but are Covid positive and got a CT scan done, also had patches but ended without any treatment,” AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria told reporters.

He said there was no advantage of doing a CT-scan if a patient had mild symptoms and suggested getting a chest X-ray done instead.

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“One CT-scan is equivalent to almost 300-400 chest X-rays and it increases the risk of getting cancer in young people,” Guleria said adding that there were data from the International Atomic Energy Agency to support this.

He said in case of mild infection, under home isolation, with no problem or decline in saturation, there is no use of a CT-scan as some patches will appear.

Guleria said biomarkers like CRP, D-Dimer, LDH, Ferritin were also not of any use in case of mild symptoms and normal saturation levels as it only leads to panic reactions.

“All these biomarkers are acute phase reactants, which means if there is any kind of inflammation in the body these markers will soar. If you get acne or zit, injury, infection in your teeth then also these biomarkers will increase because it is your body's inflammatory response. So, it fails to accurately show if the viral disease has increased,” the AIIMS Director said.