Skin Injuries to Patients Can Be Avoided when Radiation Dose is Monitored

"Many patients benefit greatly from procedures such as angioplasty, however, a major disadvantage associated with these procedures is patient radiation exposure,” said Koichi Chida, Ph.D., lead author of the study. "In most cardiac interventional procedures, real-time monitoring of maximum skin dose is not possible”; however, monitoring total entrance skin radiation dose is, according to Dr. Chida. The study was conducted to determine if total entrance skin dose could help determine maximum radiation dose to the skin.

The study evaluated 194 angioplasty procedures. The researchers investigated the relation between maximum skin dose and total entrance skin dose, and found that the maximum skin dose constituted between 48%-52% of the total entrance skin dose during angioplasty. There were considerable correlations between maximum skin dose and total entrance skin dose during angioplasty, according to Dr. Chida. "This study is an important addition to intervention lists' knowledge and understanding about how to evaluate radiation exposure to their patients,” he said.

The full findings of the study were published in the October 2007 issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.


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