title: A 5-y follow-up of the radiation exposure to in-room personnel during cardiac catheterization.
abstract: This study documents the radiation doses received by all in-room personnel of three cardiac catheterization laboratories where more than 15,000 cardiac procedures have been performed over a 5-y period. It is shown that all in-room personnel was exposed to a body dose equivalent well below any regulatory limits. However, some workers may have exceeded the occupational 150 mSv y-1 recommended limit for the lens of the eye. The physicians-in-training and the staff physicians are the two groups more likely to reach this limit. It is also demonstrated that a low correlation exists between the annual number of procedures and the annual head dose equivalent of a physician, but more variation is likely to originate from his/her working attitude and techniques. The mean dose equivalent at the collar level of the physicians is estimated to be 0.04 +/- 0.02 mSv per procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Montreal Heart Institute, Canada.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Renaud
mesh_terms: D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D011792:Quebec; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D013819:Thermoluminescent Dosimetry