Adult screening effective doses

Procedure	Modality	Average effective dose (mSv)	Number of chest radiographs (PA/lateral) with equivalent radiation dose*
Dual x-ray absorpitometry (DEXA)	Conventional radiography	0.001	0.01
Dual x-ray absorpitometry with CT	Computed tomography	0.04	0.4
Mammogram (2 views)	Conventional radiography	0.4	4
CT coronary calcium score	Computed tomography	1	10
CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy)	Computed tomography	10	100
Whole-body screening CT	Computed tomography	12	120

* PA and lateral chest radiograph = .1 mSv.

Data from:

Mettler, FA, Huda, W, Yoshizumi, TT, Mahesh, M. Effective doses in radiology and diagnostic nuclear medicine: a catalog. Radiology 2008; 248:254.
Smith-Bindman, R, Lipson, J, Marcus, R, et al. Radiation dose associated with common computed tomography examinations and the associated lifetime attributable risk of cancer. Arch Intern Med 2009; 169:2078.
Shrimpton, PC, Hillier, MC, Lewis, MA, Dunn, M. National survey of doses from CT in the UK: 2003. Br J Radiol 2006; 79:968.
Diederich, S, Lenzen, H. Radiation exposure associated with imaging of the chest: comparison of different radiographic and computed tomography techniques. Cancer 2000; 89:2457.
Brenner, DJ, Elliston, CD. Estimated radiation risks potentially associated with full-body CT screening. Radiology 2004; 232:735.
Messenger B, Li D, Nasir K, Carr JJ, et al. Coronary calcium scans and radiation exposure in the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 2016; 32:525.

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