S. Van De Putte et al., Correlation of patient skin doses in cardiac interventional radiology withdose-area product, BR J RADIOL, 73(869), 2000, pp. 504-513
Citations number
26
Categorie Soggetti
Radiology ,Nuclear Medicine & Imaging","Medical Research Diagnosis & Treatment
The use of X-rays in cardiac interventional radiology has the potential to
induce deterministic radiation effects on the patient's skin. Guidelines pu
blished by official organizations encourage the recording of information to
evaluate this risk, and the use of reference values in terms of the: dose-
area product (DAP). Skin dose measurements were made with thermoluminescent
dosemeters placed at eight different locations on the body. In addition, D
AP was recorded in 100 patients for four types of interventional radiology
procedures. Mean, median and third quartile for these results are presented
. Maximum skin dose values found were 412 mGy, 725 mGy, 760 mGy and 1800 mG
y for coronary catheterization, coronary catheterization with left ventricl
e investigation, and percutaneous transluminal angiography without and with
stenting, respectively. Median DAPs for these same procedures were, respec
tively, 5682 cGy cm(2) 10 632 cGy cm(2), 10 880 cGy cm(2) and 13 161 cGy cm
(2) The relationship between DAP and skin dose was investigated. We found a
poor correlation of DAP with maximum skin dose (r=0.77) and skin dose indi
cator (r=0.78). Using conversion factors derived from Monte Carlo simulatio
ns, skin dose distributions were calculated based on the measured DAPs. Agr
eement between the calculated skin dose distribution, using DAP values aver
aged over a group of patients who underwent coronary catheterization and le
ft ventricle investigation, and the measured skin dose averaged over the sa
me group of patients was very good. However, there were large differences b
etween the calculated skin doses using the individual DAP data per patient
and measured skin doses for individual patients. (r=0.66). Hence, calculati
on of individual skin doses based on the specific DAP data per patient is n
ot reliable and therefore measuring skin dose is preferable.