Studies of patient doses in interventional radiological examinations.

In Russia, especially in big cities like St. Petersburg, the annual number of interventional radiological (IR) examinations for both diagnostic and treatment purposes is increasing continuously. However, IR examinations might involve high patient doses and even the risk of skin injures that should be prevented. In this study, the exposure of patients caused by these examinations was analysed. Methods for the estimation of the effective dose (risk reduction of stochastic effects) were proposed. Thresholds for kerma-area product values that correspond to the occurrence of skin injury are also given.