Total radiation dosage from X-ray examinations in rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic skeletal diseases. A study of two cases.

Young patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic diseases of the skeleton are increasingly being operated on with replacement of major joints. The great number of associated X-ray examinations performed on these patients has caused some anxiety amongst orthopaedic surgeons. Two patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis have been studied. An attempt was made to calculate the total radiation dose to bone marrow and gonads. For lack of recommendations for the maximum permissible radiation dose to patients, the dose calculated has been compared with the maximum permissible dose of radiation workers, and with the dose limit for non-occupational irradiation of individuals. The yearly absorbed dose in these two patients is much lower than the maximum permissible dose of radiation workers and only slightly higher than the dose limit for non-occupational exposure of individuals.