Points: Eye injuries caused by elasticated straps

Drs H M LEE, A L HINE, and P J SHORVON (Department of Radiology, Central Middlesex Hospital, London NW1O 7NS) write: Drs Richard M Darwood and Christine M Hall draw our attention to the exposure of children to ionising radiation (7 May, p 1277). As well as minimising the dose of radiation received by children, it is important to avoid fetal irradiation as much as possible. Ultrasound examination has eliminated the need for antenatal radiographic examination of the fetus. Prepartum pelvimetry, however, is still employed, especially in some cases of breech presentation. To reduce the radiation dose to the fetus during pelvimetry we now use a digital radiograph obtained as a "scout" film on our computerised tomography scanner. This is quicker and more comfortable for the patient than conventional pelvimetry and takes up very little scanner time. It results in approximately a tenfold reduction in radiation dose.'