Patients are not the only ones at risk during cardiac procedures. Doctors performing heart surgery also face health risks, namely to their eyes. The issue of radiation protection for medical personnel is particularly acute in the case of lengthy angioplasty and other cardiac interventions performed under X-ray fluoroscopic guidance. The procedure can cause extensive radiation exposure to cardiologists that could lead to cataracts, alongside other longer term health risks. Fluoroscopy provides X-ray images of a patient that physicians can view on a display screen or monitor in real time. Proper use of tools for radiation protection - like protective screens or barriers - can prevent such radiation exposure problems.
The IAEA is helping the medical community to address this problem through a major international initiative aimed at training cardiologists and other medical professionals in radiation protection. This September in Latin America, the IAEA is organizing a study to test the eyes of interventional cardiologists participating in a regional medical conference. This will allow experts to assess retrospectively what radiation dose these cardiologists received, and then correlate the data with changes in their lens. Hopefully, this will help doctors to protect themselves better in the future and reduce further radiation in their eyes while maintaining the clinical load.
The Cardiology Conference is organized by the Latin American Society of Interventional Cardiologists (SOLACI) in Bogota, Colombia - (IAEA News).
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