[Papillary thyroid carcinoma of an interventional cardiologist. A case report]

A 52-year old female cardiologist with 16 year radiation exposure in Cath Lab as an interventional cardiologist developed a multifocal papillary thyroid carcinoma. Dosimetric (below apron) cumulative exposure totalled 56 mSv, corresponding to 2,800 chest radiographs. The patient also carried genetic polymorphisms of genes (XRCC1 and XRCC3) involved in DNA repair, increasing the cancer risk after ionizing radiation exposure. Dose optimization and diligent radioprotection are essential to minimize cancer risk in professionally exposed cardiologist. Good dosimetric practice is essential to establish a legally plausible cause-effect relationship between exposure and damage.