Staff and patient exposure to X-ray radiation during cardiac procedures

Background: The aim of this study was to define and compare staff and patient doses during the most common types of cardiac procedures. The influence of operators' technique and quality of X-ray unit in use on doses received by the staff and patients was investigated. Material/Methods: The study was conduced in two independent hemodynamic rooms (I and II). The doses to hand for medical staff (operators and nurses) were monitored. For hand dose assessment, ring thermoluminescent dosimeters were used. Regarding patient dosimetry, dose-area product was collected for selected procedures. Results: The monthly hand doses ranged from 0.4 mSv to 41.2 mSv in room I and from 0.1 to 8.95 mSv in room II. On the basis of the above measurements, the annual doses were estimated. The maximum annual hand doses for the operator and for the nurse in room I were 232.8 mSv/year and 11.5 mSv/year and in room II - 29.8 mSv/year and 14.1mSv/year, respectively. Additionally, to compare the doses received by the particular medical operators, the doses were normalized to the total workload. Hand dose per procedure ranged from 109 to 614 μSv/procedure and were significantly larger in room I. The typical DAP values (median) recorded for the CA and CA+PTCA procedures were 55Gycm2 and 171Gycm2 in room I and 35Gycm2 and 87Gycm2 in the room II, respectively. Conclusions: As a result of this survey, the impact of medical operator's experience as well as technique and quality of available X-ray units on doses received by staff and patients has been proven. On the basis of the above results, the special need for monitoring hand doses for medical staff, apart from the effective dose, has been recognized