Protruding Coronal Suture, Skull X-ray. Cancer Due To Radiation?

Posted on Sun, 19 Jun 2011

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 Answered on

Wed, 23 May 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello. I have a question about my son. When he was 5.5 months old, his coronal suture was sticking out funny so I took him to the pediatrican. To my surprise, the ped ordered skull xrays because his soft spot seemed small or closed. They came back perfectly normal. I am soooo mad at myself for not getting a second opinion before exposing him to radiation. I was just scared. This happened six months ago and I cannot stop thinking about it and researching online about radiation. What are his chances of getting cancer in the future???? Thanks for your time.

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (12 hours later)

Hi

I understand your concern.

First of all, though radiation in infancy is a known cause of childhood cancer, it is mostly therapeutic radiation (as in radiotherapy), which is implicated towards cancer.

I don't think the minute quantity of radiation from a skull Xray should cause any problems. So you should stop worrying about it and go ahead with what is the best thing the doctor suggests.

Best wishes.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar