Staff dosimetry in interventional cardiology: survey on methods and level of exposure

Abstract

In interventional cardiac procedures, staff operates near the patient in a non-uniformly scattered radiation field. Consequently, workers may receive, over a period, relatively high radiation doses. The measurement of individual doses to personnel becomes critical due to the use of protective devices and, as a consequence of the large number of methods proposed to assess the effective dose, great variability in monitoring programmes is expected among European countries. SENTINEL consortium has conducted a survey on staff dosimetry methods and on the level of staff exposure in 12 European cardiac centres demonstrating the urgent need to harmonise dosimetry methods. From the dosimetry survey, constraint annual effective dose of 1.4 mSv and Hp(0.07) over the protective apron of 14 mSv are proposed for the optimisation the exposure the most-exposed operator.

Recommendations for occupational radiation protection in interventional cardiology

“…Interventional cardiologists are unavoidably exposed to radiation in the performance of their duties. However, a busy interventional cardiologist who takes all appropriate radiation protection precautions is unlikely to have an E exceeding 10 mSv/year and is more likely to have an E in the range 1–4 mSv/year .…”

Cancer risk from professional exposure in staff working in cardiac catheterization laboratory: Insights from the National Research Council's Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation VII Report

“…A few microSieverts per electrophysiology 20 and similar values for catheterization procedures, [24][25][26][27] with a risk per procedure of developing a fatal cancer of the operator in the 1 in 500,000 to 1 in 1,000,000. 27 In reality, with a 100 μSv exposure per procedure, 20,[27][28][29][30] the risk of cancer (fatal and nonfatal) would be after BEIR in the range of 1 in 100,000 per procedure. However, it should be highlighted that the lack of a good radioprotection policy could increase occupational doses (and risk of cancer) in a factor of 10.…”

An Evaluation of the Organ Dose Received by Cardiologists Arising From Angiography Examinations in Educational Hospital in Rasht

“…This present survey was focused on estimating cardiologist doses for different anatomical location during CA procedures by thermo luminescent dosimeter (TLD), as the most widely used technology for personal dosimetry ( Foti et al, 2008 ).…”