Title: Evaluation of occupational radiation exposure of cardiologists in interventional radiography in Mashhad CATHLABs

Authors: Reza Fardid; Mohammad Taghi Bahreyni Toossi; Mohammad Mehrpouyan; Mahdi Ghorbani

Addresses: Department of Radiology, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran ' Medical Physics Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran ' Nutrition and Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran ' Medical Physics Department, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract: Several studies have revealed that interventional radiography procedures performed in cardiology departments are high dose techniques. In this study, effective dose of cardiologists working in hospitals Catheterisation Laboratories (CATHLABs) in Mashhad city have been measured during Coronary Angiography (CA) and Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA) procedures. In order to measure the dose per procedure and to estimate monthly effective dose of cardiologists, Electronic Personal Dosimeters (EPDs) were worn by 33 cardiologists over the apron on the collar. Mean effective dose of cardiologists per procedure was equal to 2.7 μSv (range: 0.3-14.3 μSv) for CA and 6.4 μSv (range: 1.3-27.5 μSv) for PTCA procedures. Mean monthly effective dose in cardiologists was equal to 158.3 μSv (range: 8.3-1050 μSv). According to the data obtained in this study the effective dose estimated for all cardiologists was lower than the monthly limits recommended by International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).

Keywords: staff dose; interventional radiography; occupational exposure; effective dose; occupational exposure; radiation exposure; cardiologists; low radiation; occupational health; radiological protection; radioprotection; radiation dose; hospitals; coronary angiography; coronary angioplasty; heart surgery.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLR.2013.055609

International Journal of Low Radiation, 2013 Vol.9 No.2, pp.160 - 168

Received: 27 Sep 2012
Accepted: 16 Apr 2013
Published online: 13 Sep 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article