Re: Xray the FETUS???

From: Arthurfree@aol.com
Sun Mar 9 10:22:33 1997


In a message dated 97-03-09 09:17:36 EST, Malcolm writes:

>>
>My understanding is that the dose of radiation needed to traverse the
>maternal abdo, pelvis and fetus combined is rather greater than that
>required to perform a simple AP chest X-ray on a neonate.

It requires more power to penetrate the maternal abdomen, but that power is somewhat attenuated by maternal tissues. It will be greater than a fetal film but probably not greater than several.

>(Maternal) pelvic views with breech presentation tend to expose the
>fetal gonads to more radiation than does a neonatal chest X-ray.

Agreed, though many institutions do a "baby" view which gives you the chest and the majority of the abdomen.

>In UK practice it generally assumed that anyone practising ob/gyn ought
>to have a minimal competence in obstetric ultrasound which would include
>ability to confirm presentation, etc. Is this not so in USA ?

I'm a family practitioner, and though I'm comfortable determining presentation, discovering the location of hands and feet as well as degree of flexion (or extension) of the fetal neck is not quite as simple. Am I treating my own lack of expertise with the ultrasound? Certainly. But it is preferable to not getting the needed information at all.

>Malcolm Griffiths MD,MRCOG,MFFP,Cert.Mgmnt

Arthur Freeland Warrensburg Missouri





use when must restrict search to only the ob-gyn-l forum...
Enter search keywords:
Returns per screen: Require all keywords:

Return to  OB-GYN-L Mail a New Message to the Forum: ob-gyn-l@obgyn.net
Forum Administrator: geffrey.klein@obgyn.net
Report Technical Problems: webmaster@obgyn.net
Last Updated: Mon Nov 2 05:21:24 2009

The American Medical Association is no longer designating CME hours for AMA Category II CME credit. However, physicians themselves may self designate learning activities as Category II CME credit hours if they feel it is of sufficient educational merit and meets the formal definitions of continuing medical education. OBGYN.net believes these interaction in this forum meets these criteria. For further information see the AMA web site.