Are Radiation Exposure Levels Used in Cardiology Dangerous?

Background: the number of interventional cardiology procedures performed hasincreased rapidly over the past years. while these procedures help physicians avoidusing highly complicated invasive methods, it usually leads to high levels of exposureto ionizing radiation of both patients and cardiologist. the dose received by thecardiologist during interventional cardiology procedures is determined by a widerange of factors such as clinical problems to be treated, the interventional techniqueto be used, the x-ray system employed, experience of the cardiologist, the protectivemeasures taken as well as their use during the examination.objective: to measure the dose received by 22 cardiologists, radiology residents,radiologic technologists and nurses during interventional cardiology examinationsperformed in various teaching hospitals affiliated to shiraz university ofmedical sciences.methods: the radiation dose was basically measured by thermoluminescencedosimeters (tld). other personal dosimetry devices such as film badges and pendosimeters were also used. according to iaea guidelines, the dosimeter should beworn under the lead apron (at waist level) for estimating the effective dose but dueto high workload in interventional radiology and since the areas of the body whichare not protected by the apron receive much higher radiation doses, in this study anadditional dosimeter was used over the apron (at collar level).results: the mean±sd monthly dose recorded by dosimeters of cardiologistsover the apron at collar level was 912.1±224.4 (range: 660.8–1176.4) ?gy; handsreceived doses up to 9674.4 ?gy month?1 as recorded by tld chips.conclusion: the annual effective dose received by interventional cardiologistswho use standard lead aprons hardly reaches the occupational exposure dose limit of20 msv/y.