Evaluation of diagnostic reference levels for interventional procedures on pediatric patients

Reducing exposure to radiation is essential for all radiological procedures, but it has a special role in pediatric patients, especially when subjected to interventional procedures. In this sense, an observational study of retrospective data (2018-2021) of pediatric patients with congenital heart disease subjected to interventional procedures was carried out in the Hemodynamics Sector of SPH (São Paulo Hospital). In addition to the anthropometric variables, dose indicators (kerma-area product and accumulated dose) and exposure time were collected from dose reports automatically provided by the angiographic equipment. Patients were grouped by age and diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) were determined from the 3^rd quartile (or 75^th percentile) of the dose indicator distribution. The results obtained indicate the need for optimization, considering the complexity of the procedures and the characteristics of the patients. (author)