Rise in medical imaging among pregnant women in U.S. and Canada

A decade-long study looking at pregnant women who got MRI or CT scans finds that more expecting mothers now are being scanned than before. In the U.S., rates of CT scans, albeit still low, quintupled from two per 1,000 pregnancies in 1996 to about 11 in 2010, before dropping to around nine in 2016. Canada’s largest province, Ontario, also saw an increase: from two per 1,000 pregnancies in 1996 to around six in 2016. Rates of MRIs also increased during this time period, as did rates of X-ray imaging. The scientists speculate that improvements in imaging technology and the fact that patients can request such scans could have driven the increase, but caution that monitoring imaging trends will be important to prevent unnecessary testing and radiation exposure to the women and the fetus.