Radiation effects in interventional radiology using biological and physical dosimetry methods: A case-control study

Abstract

Interventional radiologists and staff members are frequently exposed to protracted and fractionated low doses of ionizing radiation, which extend during all their professional activities. These exposures can derive, due to the irradiation of skin tissues and peripheral blood, in deterministic effects (radiodermitis, aged skin, hands depilation) or stochastic ones (skin and non-solid cancers incidence). Epidemiological studies of population exposed to ionizing radiation provide information of radio-induced effects. The radiation risk or radiological detriment has been estimated from a group of six exposed interventionist radiologists of the Hospital La Fe (Valencia, Spain). Dosimetry has been periodically registered from TLDs and wrist dosimeters (physical methods) and estimated through translocations in lymphocytes of peripheral blood (biological methods), by extrapolating the yield of translocations to their respective dose-effect curves. The probability of non-melanoma skin cancer and leukaemia (acute myelogenous, acute lymphocytic and chronic myelogenous leukaemia) incidence has been estimated through the software RADRISK. This software is based on a transport model from epidemiological studies of population exposed to external low-LET ionizing radiation [1]. Other non-solid carcinomas have not been considered due to their low statistical power, such as myeloid and non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The discrepancies observed between the physically recorded doses and biological estimated doses could indicate that exposed workers did not always wear their dosimeters or these dosimeters were not always exposed to the radiation field.

Performance of CMOS imager as sensing element for a Real-time Active Pixel Dosimeter for Interventional Radiology procedures

“…In the last few years there has been an increased interest to use ionizing radiation for minimally invasive medical procedures for diagnosis and treatment of a variety of diseases, especially in interventional radiology. Different factors, such as fluoroscopy time, examination time and operation mode, type of protection devices used, affect the equivalent and effective dose absorbed by staff members in each procedure [1]. Interventional radiologists and staff members applying these procedures are exposed to ionizing radiation, scattered by patient's body, which can induce detrimental effects.…”

Μελέτη Επαγγελματικών Παραγόντων Κινδύνου Για Την Πρόκληση Λευχαιμίας

“…Αν και δεν υπήρξε απόλυτη επαναληψιμότητα των ευρημάτων από το σύνολο των μελετών, αφού αρκετές από αυτές φάνηκε να υπολείπονται σε στατιστική ισχύ λόγω του μικρού αριθμού παρατηρήσεων 47,48 [58][59][60] . Αρνητικά ευρήματα κατέγραψαν επίσης μελέτες που εξέτασαν την επίδραση της επαγγελματικής απασχόλησης σε ιατρικές εφαρμογές της ιοντίζουσας ακτινοβολίας στον κίνδυνο εμφάνισης της νόσου 61,62 , παρά τις ενδείξεις συστηματικής υποεκτίμησης της δόσης έκθεσης σε συγκεκριμένες κατηγορίες εργαζόμενων 63,64 , καθώς και σε άλλες χρήσεις της ιοντίζουσας ακτινοβολίας στη βιομηχανία (ερευνητικά εργαστήρια, στρατιωτικές χρήσεις, μη καταστροφικός έλεγχος υλικών κλπ) 65 .…”