The appropriate and justified use of medical radiation in cardiovascular imaging: a position document of the ESC Associations of Cardiovascular Imaging, Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions and Electrophysiology
Year: 2014
Type: review
Abstract: The benefits of cardiac imaging are immense, and modern medicine requires the extensive and versatile use of a variety of cardiac imaging techniques. Cardiologists are responsible for a large part of the radiation exposures every person gets per year from all medical sources. Therefore, they have a particular responsibility to avoid unjustified and non-optimized use of radiation, but sometimes are imperfectly aware of the radiological dose of the examination they prescribe or practice. This position paper aims to summarize the current knowledge on radiation effective doses (and risks) related to cardiac imaging procedures. We have reviewed the literature on radiation doses, which can range from the equivalent of 1-60 milliSievert (mSv) around a reference dose average of 15 mSv (corresponding to 750 chest X-rays) for a percutaneous coronary intervention, a cardiac radiofrequency ablation, a multidetector coronary angiography, or a myocardial perfusion imaging scintigraphy. We provide a European perspective on the best way to play an active role in implementing into clinical practice the key principle of radiation protection that: 'each patient should get the right imaging exam, at the right time, with the right radiation dose'.
Source: European Heart Journal
Institutions: Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica, National Research Council, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Atomic Energy Agency, University of Naples Federico II, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat de València, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valencia, INCLIVA Health Research Institute, Société Française de Cardiologie, University of Liège, University of Leeds, Robert Bosch Hospital, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège, University of Turku, Turku University Hospital, Turku PET Centre, Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven, KU Leuven, Royal Brompton Hospital, University of Padua
Language: English
Topic: Radiation Dose and Imaging
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2096764054