Radiation dose survey in a paediatric cardiac catheterisation laboratory equipped with flat-panel detectors.

Flat-panel X-ray detectors for fluoroscopy represent a modern imaging equipment that is being implemented in paediatric cardiac catheterisation laboratories. Infants and children represent a group of patients with a high radiosensitivity. A survey of 273 (126 diagnostic and 147 therapeutic) paediatric catheterisations was performed to investigate the radiation doses delivered by the new X-ray system. Statistical parameters (75th, 50th and 25th percentiles) of dose-area product (DAP) and fluoroscopy time are reported for patients divided into six age groups: 0-30 d, >1-12 m, >1-3, >3-5, >5-10 and >10-15 y. For accurate risk estimation, effective dose (E) has been determined for all patients using the PCXMC software. For diagnostic procedures, the third quartile of E ranges from 11.3 mSv for newborns to 7 mSv for children of 10-15 y. Therapeutic procedures are more complex than diagnostic. Consequently, the third quartile of E is 22.6 mSv (0-30 d), 18.6 (>1-12 m), 13.3 (>1-3 y), 21.5 (>3-5 y), 17.8 (>5-10 y) and 34.1 mSv (>10-15 y). Dose conversion factors, which relate the DAP and E, have been estimated for each age group. The results of this study may serve as a first step in the optimisation process, in order to make full use of the dose reduction potential of flat-panel systems.