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Introduction: Increasing use of CT examinations has led to concerns of possible negative cognitive effects for children. The objective of this study is to examine if the ionizing radiation dose from a CT head scan at the age of 6–16 years affects academic performance and high school eligibility at the end of compulsory school. Materials and methods: A total of 832 children, 535 boys and 297 girls, from a previous trial where CT head scan was randomized on patients presenting with mild traumatic brain injury, were followed. Age at inclusion was 6–16 years (mean of 12.1), age at follow up 15–18 years (mean of 16.0), and time between injury and follow up one week up to 10 years (mean of 3.9). Participants' radiation exposure status was linked with the total grade score, grades in mathematics and the Swedish language, eligibility for high school at the end of compulsory school, previously measured GOSE-score, and their mothers' education level. The Chi-Square Test, Student's t-Test and factorial logistics were used to analyze data. Results: Although estimates of school grades and high school eligibility were generally higher for the unexposed, the results showed no statistically significant differences between the exposed and unexposed participants in any of the aforementioned variables. Conclusions: Any effect on high school eligibility and school grades from a CT head scan at the age of 6–16 years is too small to be detected in a study of more than 800 patients, half of whom were randomly assigned to CT head scan exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The question has been raised whether low dose radiation toward the brain in childhood can affect cognitive functions. Purpose To examine if a head computed tomography (CT) examination in childhood affect later cognitive functions. Material and Methods A total of 147 participants (67 girls/women, 80 boys/men) from a previous randomized controlled trial on management strategies after mild head injury (head CT examination or in-hospital observation) were followed up. Participants were aged 6-16 years (mean age = 11.2 ± 2.8) at first inclusion and 11-24 years (mean age = 17.8 ± 2.9) at follow-up. Computerized neuropsychological measures used for the assessment were motor speed and coordination, reaction time, selective attention, visuospatial ability, verbal and non-verbal short-term and long-term memory, and executive function tests from the neurocognitive test battery EuroCog and the Wechsler Memory Scale III. Results were analyzed with Student's t-tests and multivariate analyses adjusting for sex, age at time of injury/exposure, and age at assessment were performed with Factorial ANOVAs. Results The exposed and unexposed groups did not differ in any of the neuropsychological measures and results did not change when sex, age at time of injury/exposure, and age at assessment were included in the analyses. Conclusion A head CT examination at the age of 6-16 years does not seem to affect later cognitive functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]