radiology

ACC Releases Guidance on Minimizing CV Imaging Radiation Exposure

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) Task Force on Expert Consensus Decision Pathways has released a new expert consensus document on the optimal use of ionizing radiation in cardiovascular (CV) imaging.

The report was issued in light of the increasing use of ionizing radiation-based CV procedures, which leads to greater radiation exposure for patients and, potentially, clinical personnel.
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Ionizing radiation exposure is known to exert molecular-level detrimental effects on human exposed tissue.

Clinicians who order or perform ionizing radiation-based CV procedures must know the extent of a patients’ risk associated with radiation exposure, the authors of the report said.

Subsequently, clinicians must determine the appropriate procedure for each patient and choose the approach that provides the best balance of benefit and risk, they added.

The report offers guidance for the following procedures:

  • X-ray fluoroscopy (take patient age, comorbidities, and natural life expectancy into account; use fluoroscopic and cine doses as low as compatible with diagnostic image quality; minimize beam time; use lowest dose fluoroscopy setting suitable for a certain task; and more).
  • X-ray computed tomography (take patient age, comorbidities, and natural life expectancy into account; use acquisition detector doses as low as compatible with diagnostic image quality; choose lowest-dose acquisition protocol compatible with study goals; retrospective gating should be chosen when possible; and more).
  • Nuclear cardiology (take patient age, comorbidities, and natural life expectancy into account; choose the appropriate technique and radionuclide that provides diagnostic quality information at the lowest patient radiation dose; use scanners with cadmium zinc telluride detectors; and more).

To view the full report, click here.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Hirshfeld Jr. JW, Ferrari VA, Bengel FM, et al. 2018 ACC/HRS/NASCI/SCAI/SCCT expert consensus document on optimal use of ionizing radiation in cardiovascular imaging: best practices for safety and effectiveness: a report of the American College Cardiology Task Force on Expert Consensus Decision Pathways [Published online May 2018]. J Am Coll Cardiol. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2018.02.016

 

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