Proposed Imaging Guidelines for Pregnant Women Suspected of Having COVID-19

Abstract

Letter to the Editor Proposed Imaging Guidelines for Pregnant Women Suspected of Having COVID-19 From: Mohammad Ali Karimi, MD, Alireza Radpour, MD, Abdolrasul Sedaghat, MD, Masoumeh Gity, MD, Professor of Radiology, Ali Hekmatnia, MD, Profes- sor of Radiology, Morteza Sanei-Taheri, MD, Pro- fessor of Radiology, Mohammad Kazem Tarzamani, MD, Mehran Arab-Ahmadi, MD, MBA, MPH From the Iranian Society of Radiology, Tehran Iran (M.A.K., A.R., A.S.); Advanced diagnostic and inter- ventional radiology research center, Tehran Univer- sity of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran (M.G.); Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran (A.H.); Shohada Tajrish Hospital, Shahid Beheshti Univer- sity of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran (M.S.-T.); President of Iranian Society of Radiology, Tehran Iran (M.S.-T.); Radiology Department, Medical radi- ation sciences research group, Tabriz University of Medical Science, Tabriz, Iran (M.K.T.); Resident of Radiology, Advanced Diagnostic and Interven- tional Radiology Research Center, Tehran Univer- sity of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (M.A.-A.). To the Editor, In view of the indispensable role of imaging studies and CT scans in the diagnosis and follow up of COVID-19 patients, there are reports that CT has a higher sensitivity than Polymerase chain reaction in detecting COVID-19 (1). Also, CT scan has been considered as a necessary part of the evaluation in most suspected subjects (2) or in patients with respiratory complications in order to rule out a wide spectrum of diseases in the differential diagnosis. Given the importance of a closer review of the imaging studies, we decided to eval- uate chest CT scans through telemedicine and counseling groups by expert radiologists in our country (3,4). One of the important patient groups in this pandemic is pregnant women. Because of the associated higher risk of COVID-19 in pregnancy (5) and the defined constraints for use of ionizing radiation in pregnant women (6), the Iranian Society of Radiology devised the following guidelines to gain the maximum benefit from imaging techniques along with optimal protection and safety for pregnant women. In general, ionizing radiation must be avoided in pregnant women as much as possible. Its utilization must be narrowed to limited indications with a high level of protection. The maximum permitted dose of radiation exposure is below 50 mGy in pregnant women. The absorbed dose of radiation for a fetus whose mother undergoes chest x-ray and chest CT scan are 0.002 mGy and 0.2 mGy respectively, which are not associated with known adverse effects on fetal health and thus are safe