Patient radiation doses in uterine artery embolisation using Monte Carlo simulation

This study aims at quantification of ovarian dose in uterine artery embolisation to study the level of optimisation of this dose. Individual anatomical data and all relevant exposure parameters of individual beam projections were recorded in 52 patients who underwent uterine artery embolisation in two angiography units. The recorded information was used to calculate the individual ovarian doses by Monte Carlo simulation. The mean dose-area product was 196 Gy cm(2). The corresponding mean ovarian dose was 149 mGy. The performance of the two angiography units was analysed starting from these data. Dose-area product and ovarian doses obtained in this study were compared with data from other uterine artery embolisation patient dose studies. It was concluded that although the mean dose-area product and ovarian dose are acceptable, it is possible to optimise the procedure by improving the performance of the units.