RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF PATIENT RADIATION DOSES IN DIGITAL CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY AND INTERVENTIONS

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiology
• Cardiology

Background:

• Diagnostic coronary angiography (DCA) and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) are vital cardiovascular procedures.
• Radiation exposure is an inherent risk in these interventional procedures, necessitating dose assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate patient and operator eye lens doses during DCA and PCI procedures.
• To analyze radiation dose metrics including Kerma area product (PkA), cumulative air kerma (CAK), and fluoroscopic time (FT).
• To identify variability in patient doses and emphasize the importance of dose monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 264 patient records from a university hospital in Oman.
• Data extraction of PkA, CAK, and FT from DICOM headers.
• Statistical analysis of recorded dose metrics for DCA and PCI procedures.

Main Results:

• Median FT, PkA, and CAK for DCA were 5.3 min, 60.9 Gy cm2, and 0.86 Gy, respectively.
• Median FT, PkA, and CAK for PCI were 20.2 min, 174.0 Gy cm2, and 2.6 Gy, respectively.
• Significant variability in patient radiation doses was observed across individuals.

Conclusions:

• Patient dose monitoring in DCA and PCI is essential for quality assurance and patient safety.
• Operator feedback on radiation doses can aid in optimizing procedures and minimizing exposure.
• Further studies may be warranted to explore strategies for dose reduction in interventional cardiology.