Donna 's Library tagged ultrasound → View Popular

15 Sep 06

Once again it is interesting to look at what happened with the issue
of safety of X-rays during pregnancy. X-rays were used on pregnant women
for almost fifty years and assumed to be safe. In 1937, a standard textbook
on antenatal care stated: "It has been frequently asked whether there
is any danger to the life of the child by the passage of X- rays through
it; it can be said at once there is none if the examination is carried
out by a competent radiologist or radiographer." A later edition
of the same textbook stated: "It is now known that the unrestricted
use of X-rays through the fetus caused childhood cancer." This story
illustrates the danger of assuming safety.
Essentially, ultrasound has proven valuable in a handful of specific
situations in which the diagnosis "remains uncertain after clinical
history has been ascertained and a physical examination has been performed."
Yet, considering whether the benefits outweigh the costs of using ultrasound
routinely, systematic medical research has not supported routine use.
1 more annotations...
- t is not only doctors who have tried to promote ultrasound with statements
  that go beyond the scientific data. Commercial interests also have been
  actively promoting ultrasound, and not only to doctors and hospitals.