Cardiology is responsible for a large part of the radiation exposures that
every person receives per year from all medical sources. Fluoroscopically guided and
other cardiology procedures are increasing in number and complexity. Catheterization
PCI, interventional electrophysiology procedures and repeated procedures can result in
patient skin doses high enough to cause deterministic skin injuries. Cancer risk from a
single NST is small, but projected on a population level, NSTs may result in thousands
of radiation-attributable cancers annually. Several epidemiological studies involving
various levels of radiation exposure all show increased cancer risk, and allow risk
projection. The occupational radiation exposure of cardiologists and nuclear cardiology
staff must be considered; exposure of interventional cardiologists and cardiac
electrophysiologists can be two to three times higher than that of diagnostic
radiologists. In recent years, intensive efforts have been initiated to reduce the radiation
dose associated with cardiology. Staff radiation protection is related to patient
protection, as radiation received is mainly the scattered radiation from patients. The
correlation between occupational and patient doses is very dependent on equipment, the
specialist, and protocols followed throughout the procedure. Radiation data collection
and documentation procedures, QA programmes, application of Diagnostic Reference
Levels (DRLs), research, training and education are among the very basic tools also to
enhance radiation protection and exploit all the advantages of radiation imaging and
therapy in Cardiology.
Keywords: Cancer risk, Deterministic effects, Dosimetry, Medical imaging,
Occupational risk, Radiation biology, Radiation dose, Radiation exposure,
Radiation protection, Stochastic effects.
