Dosimetría personal y exposición ocupacional en Cardiología intervencionista

Abstract

IntroductionIn the field of medicine, the cardiologists along with the interventional radiologists, are the professionals most exposed to ionising radiation due to their proximity to the patient and the X-ray equipment in the catheter or haemodynamics room. Although absorbed doses received by these professionals are less than those received by the patients, the accumulated dose throughout their career could be substantial and can increase the probability of inducing radiobiological effects such as eye cataracts and brain cancer.Monitoring patients and medical staff doses in interventional cardiology procedures is intended to assess the risk associated with radiation exposure and verify the radiological protection conditions implemented in the cath laboratories. ObjectiveTo perform a systematic literature review on occupational exposure levels and the methods employed in measuring personal doses in interventional cardiology. Materials and methodsThe PubMed and SciELO data bases were consulted in order to find articles in English, Spanish, and Portuguese published between 2008 and 2018, which reported data on the levels of occupational exposure, the methods for measuring personal doses, and the regulatory guidelines in interventional cardiology and radiology. ConclusionsThe review of the literature showed that occupational doses in interventional cardiology may exceed the limits of effective dose and dose in the lens, if the individual radio-protection elements are not used correctly and the radiographic techniques used during the procedures are inadequate. The establishment of training programs in radiation protection that include actions such as dose reduction in patients, the proper use of radio-protection elements and personal dosimeters will lead to a reduction in radiological risk in this type of procedure.