A study on patients' radiation doses from interventional cardiac procedures in Tabriz, Iran

Radiation dose in paediatric cardiac catheterisation: A systematic literature review

OBJECTIVES

It is believed that children are more sensitive to ionising radiation than adults. This work reviewed the reported radiation dose estimates for paediatric cardiac catheterisation. A systematic literature review was performed by searching healthcare databases for studies reporting radiation dose using predetermined key words relating to children having cardiac catheterisation. The quality of publications was assessed using relevant Critical Appraisal Skills Programme questions and their reported radiation exposures were evaluated.

KEY FINDINGS

It is only in recent years that larger cohort observations have been undertaken. Although radiation dose from paediatric cardiac catheterisation has decreased in recent years, the literature indicated that it remains varied and potentially substantial.

CONCLUSION

Standardisation of weight categories and procedure types such as those recommended by the PiDRL project could help compare current and future radiation dose estimates.

Does Ad Hoc Coronary Intervention Reduce Radiation Exposure? - Analysis of 568 Patients

Background

Advantages and disadvantages of ad hoc percutaneous coronary intervention have been described. However little is known about the radiation exposure of that procedure as compared with the staged intervention.

Objective

To compare the radiation dose of the ad hoc percutaneous coronary intervention with that of the staged procedure

Methods

The dose-area product and total Kerma were measured, and the doses of the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures were added. In addition, total fluoroscopic time and number of acquisitions were evaluated.

Results

A total of 568 consecutive patients were treated with ad hoc percutaneous coronary intervention (n = 320) or staged percutaneous coronary intervention (n = 248). On admission, the ad hoc group had less hypertension (74.1% vs 81.9%; p = 0.035), dyslipidemia (57.8% vs. 67.7%; p = 0.02) and three-vessel disease (38.8% vs. 50.4%; p = 0.015). The ad hoc group was exposed to significantly lower radiation doses, even after baseline characteristic adjustment between both groups. The ad hoc group was exposed to a total dose-area product of 119.7 ± 70.7 Gycm², while the staged group, to 139.2 ± 75.3 Gycm² (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Ad hoc percutaneous coronary intervention reduced radiation exposure as compared with diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed at two separate times.

Radiation exposure in children during the current era of pediatric cardiac intervention

Cardiac catheterizations are among the X-ray procedures with the highest patient radiation dose and therefore are of great concern in pediatric settings. This study aimed to evaluate factors that influence variability of X-ray exposure in children with congenital heart diseases during cardiac catheterization. The study included 107 children who underwent either diagnostic (n = 46) or interventional (n = 61) procedures. A custom-made sheet for patient and procedural characteristics was designed. Data were collected, and different correlations were applied to determine factors that influence variability of X-ray exposure. The fluoroscopy time (FT) differed significantly between the diagnostic (8.9 ± 6.3 min) and intervention (12.8 ± 9.98 min) groups (P = 0.032). The mean dose-area product (DAP) differed significantly between the two groups (3.775 ± 2.5 Gy/cm(2) vs. 13.239 ± 15.4 Gy/cm(2); P = 0.003). The highest DAP was during left anterior oblique (LAO) cranial 30° angulation (2.8 Gy/cm(2)/4 s cine). The mean cumulative dose (CD) was 0.053 Gy in diagnostic cases and 0.48 Gy in intervention cases. The effective dose was 5.97 ± 7.05 mSv for therapeutic procedures compared with 3.42 ± 3.64 mSv for diagnostic procedures. The FT correlated significantly with both the DAP (r = 0.718; P < 0.001) and the CD (r = 0.701; P < 0.001). Other correlations were reported. An increasing number of therapeutic catheterization procedures are being performed for children. The justification for these procedures is evident because they avoid complicated surgery. However, the complexity of these procedures results in higher radiation exposures.

Patient doses in interventional cardiology in Bosnia and Herzegovina: first results

Cardiologists at the Cardiac Centre of the Clinical Centre of Sarajevo University performed invasive cardiology procedures in one room equipped with a Siemens Coroskop (Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany) unit with the possibility of digital cine imaging. The number of procedures performed with this unit is 1126 per year. The number of adults performing only diagnostic procedures is 816, therapeutic procedures 62 and both diagnostic and therapeutic 228. Twenty diagnostic examinations but no therapeutic procedure are performed on children per year. The workload is increasing year by year, with an average increase of 26 % per year. The X-ray system does not have a kerma area product (KAP) meter installed; therefore an external KAP meter was mounted on the X-ray tube. Gafchromic dosimetry films (International Specialty Products, Wayne, USA) were placed under the patient to record the skin dose distribution. The peak skin dose (PSD) was calculated from the maximum optical density of the dosimetry films. Dose measurements were performed on 51 patients undergoing therapeutic procedures (percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and stent placement). Two patients received doses (KAP) larger than 100 Gycm(2). The PSD was higher than 1 Gy in 3 out of 16 evaluations, and one of these patients received a skin dose >2 Gy. No deterministic skin effects were recorded. The dosimetry results are similar to results reported in other countries. Invasive cardiac procedures deliver high doses to the skin that could cause deterministic effects (erythema). Physicians performing these procedures should be aware of these risks. More efforts should be put into the training of cardiologists in radiation protection.