AIIMS chief: CT scan not needed in mild cases, can cause cancer

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 3

Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS-New Delhi, today cautioned mild Covid patients against going for repeated CT scan, saying it could raise the risk of cancer and was needless in mild conditions.

205 tonnes of oxygen to reach Delhi today

The Railways on Monday said it would deliver its biggest consignment of 205 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) to New Delhi by Tuesday morning. In an official statement, the Railways said, “While 120 tonnes of LMO in an ‘Oxygen Express’ with six tankers will be delivered to Delhi from Durgapur in West Bengal, 85 tonnes in four tankers will be delivered to the national capital from Hapa in Gujarat.” The Railways has so far delivered around 1,125 tonnes of LMO in 76 tankers to various states. Twenty ‘Oxygen Express’ trains have already completed their journey and seven more loaded with around 422 tonnes of LMO in 27 tankers are on way to their destinations, it said. TNS

“There is no need for CT scan in mild Covid cases. Patches in lungs will appear even if the disease is mild. Research shows that in 30-40 per cent of asymptomatic Covid patients, patches in lungs appear but get resolved naturally. A CT scan equals 300-400 chest X-rays. The International Atomic Energy Commission has shown how CT scan in younger age lead to greater cancer risk in later life. We know of mild Covid patients repeating CT scan every three days. You are only exposing yourselves to harmful radiation,” Guleria said, advising people against needless blood biomarker tests unless medically advised.

He said sometimes even a minor wound would show high levels of markers, which was due to normal body response to inflammation.

“Steroids are needed only in moderate disease after five days of illness. We have seen people who took steroids early in the disease, enabling viral replication and severe infection. The timing of medicines is the key to treatment,” said the AIIMS chief, noting that the main therapy for Covid was oxygen, steroids and anticoagulants taken at the right time and experimental therapies like Remdesivir, plasma and Tocilizumab were used in extreme cases because they were not proven to reduce death rate.