Whole Body Scans are A Bad Idea

        In early 2000, advertisements were spanning all across United States advocating for computed tomography (CT) whole body scanning and was being marketed as a way to diagnose cancer and other diseases early on. Due to the fact that whole body CT screening scans are elected by people with no symptoms, they are not covered by insurance and scans have been known to lead to further unnecessary testing. Whole body scans cost anywhere up to 1,000 dollars. This trend could increase health care and health insurance premiums even more due to further testing that may not be neccessary. Not only that, but this could expose individuals to great amounts of  radiation. A  whole-body scan will expose patients radiation equal to 500 chest x-rays (Fishman, 2002). Whole body scans contain a higher risk that outweighs the small potential benefits of early diagnosis. Whole body CT scans and the multitude of tests that come with it are harmful to the body and often misdiagnose illnesses.  Experts oppose whole body scans that are self-referred. Interestingly enough, the FDA has never approved any CT system for use in screening patients.
       The FDA’s position is that any alleged benefit of whole-body CT scanning for individuals without symptoms is “currently uncertain,” and that any benefit of this practice “may not be great enough to offset the potential harms such screening could cause.” Many other organizations disagree with use of whole-body scanning as a screening process. Organizations such as the American College of Radiology (American College of Radiology, 2002), the United States Food and Drug Administration (United States Center for Food and Drug Administration, 2002) and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine do not agree with whole body scanning in asymptomatic individuals (American Association of Physicists in Medicine, 2002) The American College of Radiology (ACR) also feels the same way. The ACR’s position is that there is no evidence based practice to rely on in which to support whole-body CT scanning for asymptomatic patients. 

      “The ACR, at this time, does not believe there is sufficient evidence to justify recommending total-body CT screening for patients with no symptoms or a family history suggesting disease. To date there is no evidence that total-body CT screening is cost-efficient or effective in prolonging life" (American College of Radiology, 2002). The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD), a professional association of state and local regulators of radiation has advised to its members to "actively discourage self-referral CT screening through the individual state authority” Oncology Times, 2005). The Food and Drug Administration and expert professional groups agree that self-referral for whole-body scanning by well people is not advised and should be discouraged by physicians

        A lot of the advertising involved with whole body scans indicates that this measure could “save lives.” However, there is no scientific evidence to prove this. According to Dr. Zeman, whole body scanning may lead to many “incidental lesions” that might indicate nothing harmful in the big picture. He states, “One test begets another, so that initial scan can lead to many more tests, more exposure to radiation, and more costs.” He has also expressed concern to the community about the cumulative doses of radiation. Dr. Zeman states that the follow-up scans are the biggest concern for massive exposures to radiation. (Oncology Times, 2005). I side with Dr. Zeman and the many physicians that have expressed concerns related to this topic. I feel as though every exam and diagnostic test should be justified in the world of medicine.

References

American College of Radiology. (2000) The American College of Radiology statement on total body CT screening.  Available at: http://www.acr.org/departments/pub_rel/press_releases/total-bodyCT.html.

American Association of Physicists in Medicine. (2002) CT body scanning not scientifically justified for asymptomatic patients. Available at: http://www.aapm.org/announcements/CT.html.

Eastman, Peggy (2005) Whole‐body scanning for patients with no symptoms: what are the pros and cons? Oncology Times UK, 2 (3) 20-2.

Napoli M. (2002). Why whole-body scans are a bad idea. Health Facts. Center for Medical Consumers. Available at:http://www.medicalconsumers.org/pages/why_whole_body_scans.html.

United States Center for Food and Drug Administration (2002). Whole body scanning: using computed tomography (CT). Center for Devices and Radiological Health. April 17, 2002. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/ct/. Accessed September 15, 2002.

Fishman E (2002). Whole body CT scanning. The Advanced Medical Imaging Laboratory (AMIL), Department of Radiology at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. February 26, 2002. Available at:http://www.screeningctisus.com/index.html.