Skin injuries to patients can be avoided when radiation dose is monitored

Maximum radiation skin dose during coronary angioplasty can be accurately determined by monitoring the total entrance skin radiation dose as the patient is being examined and dividing that number in half according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan.

By knowing the maximum radiation skin dose, radiologists can avoid skin injury to the patient, the researchers said.

Angioplasty, is a procedure that helps treat narrowed coronary arteries. “Many patients benefit greatly from procedures such as angioplasty, however, a major disadvantage associated with these procedures is patient radiation exposure,” said Koichi Chida, PhD, 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, Dr. Chida said. 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 significant correlations between maximum skin dose and total entrance skin dose during angioplasty, Dr. Chida said. .

“This study is an important addition to interventionalists' knowledge and understanding about how to evaluate radiation exposure to their patients,” he said.