Operator radiation exposure during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

• Published in: Journal of the American College of Cardiology Vol. 4; no. 4; pp. 725 - 728
• Main Authors: Dash, Harold, Leaman, David M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.10.1984; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Angiography - adverse effects; Angioplasty, Balloon - adverse effects; Biological and medical sciences; Cardiology. Vascular system; Cineangiography - adverse effects; Coronary Angiography; Coronary heart disease; Coronary Vessels; Eye - radiation effects; Fluoroscopy - adverse effects; Head - radiation effects; Health Workforce; Heart; Humans; Medical sciences; Radiation Dosage; Radiation Protection - methods; Thermoluminescent Dosimetry; Human; Operator; Radiations; Absorbed dose; Coronary artery; Check; Radioscopy; Instrumentation therapy; Cardiovascular disease; Instrumental dilatation; Coronary heart disease; Percutaneous route; Exposure time
• ISSN: 0735-1097; 1558-3597
• DOI: 10.1016/S0735-1097(84)80398-8

Operator radiation exposure during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty as compared with that during routine coronary angiography is unknown. Therefore, cumulative radiation exposure at operator eye level was measured in two physicians (operators 1 and 2) during performance of coronary angioplasty and routine coronary angiography. The physicians participated together during angioplasty in eight patients; they performed routine angiography separately in eight patients each. Cumulative radiation exposure for eight angioplasty procedures was 140 mrads for operator 1 and 130 mrads for operator 2. In contrast, exposure during eight routine angiograms was 80 mrads for operator 1 and 60 mrads for operator 2. Mean cineangiographic time per case was similar (p = NS) during angioplasty (44.1 ± 14.0 seconds for both operators) and angiography (49.7 ± 6.1 seconds for operator 1, 47.6 ± 16.1 seconds for operator 2). In contrast, fluoroscopy time was longer (p < 0.01) for angioplasty (34.5 ± 17.7 min) compared with angiography (13.1 ± 5.1 min for operator 1, 13.7 ± 8.2 min for operator 2). Thus, operator radiation exposure during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty was, on average, 93% greater than during routine coronary angiography and was related to the duration of fluoroscopy rather than cineangiography.