X-ray dose from pediatric cardiac catheterization: a comparison of materials and methods for measurement or calculation.

Pediatric cardiac catheterization procedures have the potential to transmit high X-ray doses, which may lead to acute effects or latent skin reactions. Direct measurement of radiation dose was facilitated using nanodot dosimeters and radiochromic film. Direct measurement results were compared with vendor-listed dosimetry and calculation using phantom data. Vendor-listed data demonstrated a wide discrepancy with measured data, whereas the calculation reproducibly overestimated the actual dose. A simple formula was derived to calculate the dose using fluoroscopy time, cine frame quantity and average cine mA in a biplane environment.