Cardiologist's exposure to radiation in cath lab measured with Instadose™ dosimeter

Introduction: complex fluoroscopy-guided interventional procedures in cardiology are known to result in higher radiation doses for patients and staff. Purpose: to estimate the equivalent dose received in different regions of the cardiologist's body in catheterism (CATH) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of monitoring the doses in the catheritization laboratory (cath lab) using a direct ion storage dosimeter. Materials and methods: the Instadose (TM) and the thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD-100) were fixed simultaneously in the following regions of the cardiologist's body: near the eyes (left and right), the trunk region (over the lead apron) and the left ankle. Occupational doses were recorded during 86 procedures (60% CATH). Results: catheterization procedures showed third quartile dose values near to the left eye region equal to 0.10 mSv (TLD-100) and 0.12 (Instadose (TM)) and for intervention 0.15 mSv (TLD-100 and Instadose (TM)). The doses measured in the trunk region, over the lead apron, were about 13% higher for catheterization procedures and 20% higher for intervention procedures compared to left eye region measurements. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test was applied for unpaired data for all body regions, comparing the data obtained between the TLD-100 and Instadose(TM) dosimeters. For CATH and PCI, the responses of the TLD-100 and Instadose (TM) dosimeters are considered equal for all analysed regions (p > 0.05) with the exception of the right eye region. Conclusion: the Instadose (TM) passive dosimeter can be useful as a complementary assessment in the monitoring of a cardiologist's personal occupational doses in the cath lab.