title: Assessment of organ radiation doses and associated risk for digital bifemoral arteriography.
abstract: An assessment has been made of the absorbed dose associated with femoral arteriography using a digital imaging system. A bilateral femoral arteriogram was performed on 17 patients, using a filmless 1024 matrix digital image acquisition system with a discrete stepping tube-stand and 40 cm image intensifier. A standardized protocol of manual patient/tube-stand positioning under fluoroscopic control and automatic stepping digital acquisition was followed. Skin entry doses were measured with a dose-area product meter for each stage of the procedure, and the total gonad dose was assessed with thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs). Published Monte Carlo simulations were supplemented with further calculations to evaluate organ doses from the dose-area products measured. Comparison with the TLD measurements indicated that this technique over-estimated organ doses by about 30%. A mean effective dose of 3.1 +/- 1.8 mSv was calculated for the procedure, with the greatest dose burden being imposed by fluoroscopy during catheter manipulation. The related radiation detriment is 0.018%, which is insignificant when compared with the overall mortality from peripheral vascular disease.
authors.affiliation: Joint Department of Physics, Royal Marsden NHS Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: McNeill
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Thorp
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Dance
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Raphael
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001853:Bone Marrow; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D006066:Gonads; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012867:Skin; D013819:Thermoluminescent Dosimetry