title: A study on the impact of operator experience on the patient radiation exposure in coronary angiography examinations.
abstract: The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of cardiologists' experience on the patient received dose during coronary angiography. The exposure parameters including fluoroscopy time, total kerma-area product (KAP), total air-kerma, fluoroscopy and cine acquisition KAP and air-kerma for five senior cardiologists with the experience of 6-10 y were recorded. The range of values for fluoroscopy time and total KAP were 2.17- 4.19 min and 12.06-21.06 Gy cm(2), respectively, in our diagnostic coronary examinations, which was below the recommended reference values. The differences among cardiologists were analysed statistically using one-way ANOVA test. The fluoroscopy KAP and air-kerma results showed statistically significant differences between cardiologists. However, the experience of the cardiologists showed no relation with patient received dose. According to the results, training in radiation protection as a requisite for interventional cardiologists was recommended.
authors.affiliation: Medical Physics Department, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. asgharmesbahi@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Asghar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mesbahi
authors.forename: Naser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aslanabadi
authors.forename: Parinaz
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mehnati
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D006801:Humans; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D015641:Radiography, Interventional