EFFECTIVE DOSE IN PEDIATRIC INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Pediatric Radiology
• Radiation Dosimetry

Background:

• Pediatric interventional cardiology procedures involve ionizing radiation.
• Accurate estimation of effective doses (EDs) and dose conversion coefficients (DCCs) is crucial for pediatric radiation protection.
• Variability in patient parameters and procedure techniques can influence radiation doses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate effective doses (EDs) for children undergoing interventional cardiology examinations in St. Petersburg.
• To calculate associated dose conversion coefficients (DCCs).
• To investigate the dependence of DCCs on patient age and examination parameters.

Main Methods:

• Data collection from over 300 pediatric interventional cardiology examinations across three hospitals.
• Categorization of patients into five age groups: newborn, 1, 5, 10, and 15 years old.
• Calculation of EDs and DCCs using PCXMC 2.0 software based on collected technical, geometrical, dosimetric, and patient parameters.

Main Results:

• Significant dependence of DCCs on patient age and beam quality was observed.
• DCCs varied by a factor of 10 between the newborn and 15-year-old groups.
• The maximum estimated effective dose was 26 mSv, found in the newborn age group.

Conclusions:

• Patient age is a critical factor influencing radiation dose conversion coefficients in pediatric interventional cardiology.
• Radiation protection strategies should account for age-specific dose variations.
• Further research into optimizing pediatric interventional cardiology procedures to minimize radiation exposure is warranted.