International project on individual monitoring and radiation exposure levels in interventional cardiology.
Within the Information System on Occupational Exposure in Medicine, Industry and Research (ISEMIR), a new International Atomic Energy Agency initiative, a Working Group on interventional cardiology, aims to assess staff radiation protection (RP) levels and to propose an international database of occupational exposures. A survey of regulatory bodies (RBs) has provided information at the country level on RP practice in interventional cardiology (IC). Concerning requirements for wearing personal dosemeters, only 57 % of the RB specifies the number and position of dosemeters for staff monitoring. Less than 40 % of the RBs could provide occupational doses. Reported annual median effective dose values (often <0.5 mSv) were lower than expected considering validated data from facility-specific studies, indicating that compliance with continuous individual monitoring is often not achieved in IC. A true assessment of annual personnel doses in IC will never be realised unless a knowledge of monitoring compliance is incorporated into the analysis.
Medical Physics Department, University Hospital, Udine, Italy.
R
R
Padovani
J
J
Le Heron
R
R
Cruz-Suarez
A
A
Duran
C
C
Lefaure
D L
DL
Miller
H K
HK
Sim
E
E
Vano
M
M
Rehani
R
R
Czarwinski
D002309:Cardiology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D015642:Radiology, Interventional / Q000379:methods*; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods; D012062:Relative Biological Effectiveness; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce