Radiation dose exposure during cardiac and peripheral arteries catheterisation

Prospectively gated axial CT coronary angiography: preliminary experiences with a novel low-dose technique

“…The mean effective radiation dose for the PGA group (3.7 mSv) was less than one-fourth of the effective radiation dose of the RGH group (18.9 mSv). This is an important finding as PGA dose is lower than the mean exposure typically used for a conventional coronary angiogram [4][5][6][7] and approaches the level of average annual background radiation [30].…”

“…Although the noninvasive nature of CT is attractive, radiation dose compared to invasive catheterization still remains a challenge to widespread adoption. Effective doses for a conventional coronary angiogram range from 5 to 12 mSv [4][5][6][7][8], whereas effective doses for a standard retrospectively gated helical CTCA range from 12 to 28 mSv [8][9][10][11]. Manufacturers have implemented strategies to reduce radiation exposure, such as dynamically modulating the tube current based on the patient's electrocardiogram (ECG) for cardiac phases of interest, resulting in dose savings approaching 50%, depending on the heart rate [12].…”

Radiation exposure and image quality in staged low-dose protocols for coronary dual-source CT angiography: a randomized comparison

“…While mean effective doses for invasive coronary angiography range from 2.1 to 7 mSv [1][2][3], a recent international multicenter survey that included 1,965 procedures performed at 50 sites revealed a median estimated dose of 12 mSv for coronary CT angiography using state-of-the-art equipment. Average doses per site displayed substantial variability and varied from 5 to 30 mSv [4].…”

Working in the cardiac catheterization laboratory

“…Very variable estimated effective doses to patients can be found for coronary intervention 5,6 and cardiac electrophysiological [20][21][22][23] procedures, with higher values reported for coronary stenting and ablation procedures (around 15 to 25 mSv, ranging from 2 to 60 mSv) and lower values for diagnostic procedures such as coronary angiography or electrophysiologic study (around 3 to 5 mSv, ranging from 1 to 20 mSv). Regarding medical personnel, the rates of risk of death for cancer for both kind of procedures (electrophysiologic procedures and interventional cardiology) depend on the radioprotection measures of the professionals and the radiation dose to the patients, and a wide range of values can be found in the literature.…”

“…3 On average, a left ventriculography and coronary angiography correspond to a radiation exposure of about 300 chest x-rays; a coronary stent to 1,000; a peripheral artery intervention to 1,500-2,500; and a cardiac radiofrequency ablation to 900 up to several thousands. [4][5][6][7][8] In most cases, it is the cardiologist who performs these procedures, often without any specific training in radiology and radiation protection. 9 Although there is a general appreciation that radiation by itself is certainly not a good thing for the patient or the operator, radiation safety is rarely much of an overt concern to interventionalist.…”