title: Radiation Exposure in Coronary Angiography: A Comparison of Cineangiography and Fluorography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Coronary angiography (CAG) is the gold standard for diagnosing coronary artery disease. However, exposure to ionizing radiation delivered during CAG has various negative biological effects on humans. In this study, there was an evaluation of whether fluorography resulted in decreased radiation exposure, as compared with cineangiography.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-five patients were prospectively enrolled and divided into two CAG groups, in accordance with the operator's professional discretion: a conventional cineangiography group versus a fluorography group. Fluorography refers to the photography of fluoroscopic images that are retrospectively stored, e.g., using the "Store fluoro" function of the Siemens cardiac angiography system. The primary outcomes included the air kinetic energy released per unit mass {air kerma (AK) mGy} and the dose (kerma)-area product (DAP; µGy · m(2)), both measured using built-in software in the Siemens system. The secondary outcomes included the total procedure time and amount of contrast agent used with each CAG method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total AK and DAP were significantly lower in the fluorography group (159.3±64.9 mGy and 1337.9±629.6 µGy · m(2), respectively) than in the cineangiography group (326.9±107.5 mGy and 2341.1±849.9 µGy · m(2), respectively; p=0.000 for both). The total procedure time (cineangiography vs. fluorography, 12.8±4.7 vs. 12.5±2.9 min; p=0.779) and contrast agent amount (136.1±28.3 vs. 126.3±25.7, p=0.214) were comparable between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fluorography is a useful method to decrease the radiation exposure in selected patients requiring CAG.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jongmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo Yong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Min Ku
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Chon
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Ki Won
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Su
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Hyun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: June Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Kook Jin
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Chun
keywords: Angiography; Cineangiography; Coronary artery disease; Fluoroscopy; Radiation