Establishment of institutional diagnostic reference level for coronary angiography procedures in Sri Lanka.

Abstract

Amongst many interventional procedures performed in a cardiac catheterisation laboratory, the coronary angiography (CAG) is the most frequently performed cardiac interventional procedure. A diagnostic reference level (DRL) is an effective tool to optimise the radiation exposure to patients and staff whilst maintaining the adequate diagnostic image quality. The aim of the study was to establish institutional DRLs for the CAG procedures performed at a selected private hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka. A total of 325 CAG procedures were selected for this study from two C-arm machines. The institutional DRLs of cumulative dose length product (DAP) and fluoroscopic time for the CAG procedure were calculated. The established institutional DRL for accumulated DAP and fluoroscopic time are 10610 mGycm2 and 2.31min, respectively. As this study conducted at only one institute we recommend to develop national DRLs for mostly performing interventional procedures in Sri Lanka by considering all influencing factors to optimise the patient dose.