Investigation of patient skin dose at angiography

In interventional radiology (IVR), high exposure dose incurs radiological risk for the patient. In this study, we investigated the current status of patient skin dose (in seven facilities) exposed during the course of angiography. A thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) was used for the measurement. We attached the TLD device to the skin surface of the patient where x-rays were irradiated. The number of cases for the purpose of diagnosis was 101: 26 liver cases, 19 head cases, and 56 cardiac cases. The number of cases for interventional radiology (IVR) was 96: 22 cases of liver IVR, 20 cases of head IVR, 36 cases of cardiac IVR, 13 cases of catheter ablasion, and 5 cases of abdominal IVR except liver (pelvis, renal artery, lumbar artery). Thus, the total number of cases for diagnosis and IVR was 197. The average patient skin dose (70 μm dose equivalent) was 1206.0 mSv (31.2-3049.3) for liver diagnosis, 2837.2 mSv (230.6-6590.4) for liver IVR, 805.4 mSv (58.8-3144.4) for head diagnosis, 4953.9 mSv (357.5-24383.2) for head IVR, 439.2 mSv (15.3-1734.6) for cardiac diagnosis, 618.7 mSv (26.6-2689.0) for cardiac IVR, 856.9 mSv (44.3-2562.6) for catheter ablasion, and 4509.7 mSv (1736.8-8576.8) for abdominal IVR. (author)