engleski

Radiation exposure to patients during interventional procedures in 20 countries: Initial IAEA project results

Purpose: To investigate the level of radiation protection of patients and staff in interventional procedures in 20 countries of Africa, Asia and Europe. Materials and Methods: In a multinational, prospective study, information on radiation protection tools, peak skin dose (PSD) and kerma area product (KAP) was provided by 61 hospitals in 20 mainly developing countries (9 mostly in Eastern Europe, 5 in Africa and 6 in Asia). Results: Nearly 40% of the interventional rooms had annual workload of over 2000 patients. It is remarkable that work load of pediatric interventional procedures can reach the levels of adult even in developing countries. About 30% of participating countries have shown 100% increase in workload in 3 years. Lead apron are used in all participating rooms. Even though KAP was available in almost half of the facilities, none had experience in its use. One hundred out of 505 patients monitored for PSD (20%) were above the 2 Gy threshold for deterministic effects. Conclusion: Interventional procedures are increasing in developing countries, not only for adult but also for pediatric patients. The situation with respect to staff protection is considered generally acceptable, but this is not the case for patient protection. Many patients exceeded the dose threshold for erythema. A substantial number (62%) of PTCA procedures performed in developing countries in this study are above the currently known DRL of 100 Gy.cm2 and thus could be optimized. This study thus has significance in introducing the concept of patient dose estimation and dose management.

interventional cardiology; dose; radiation protection

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