Patient radiation doses during invasive cardiac procedures categorised by clinical code

Patient radiation doses delivered during invasive fluoroscopic cardiology procedures at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire during a 3 year period from November 1999 to August 2002, and comprising 6189 patient records, have been analysed. Cases have been stratified using classification codes from the Office of Population Census and Surveys (OPCS-4 codes), allowing representative doses to be assessed for 34 distinct types of cardiac radiological procedure. In addition, local guidance levels have been derived for the eight most common procedures. This work represents one of the largest and most detailed published studies of patient radiation dose during cardiac procedures, and should assist in meeting the IR(ME)R regulations requirement for establishment of diagnostic reference levels, and in enabling dose optimization of individual exposures.