Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Heart Disease, Radiology / 16.10.2013
Cancer Risk from Imaging Radiation in Ischemic Heart Disease
MedicalResearch.com:
Prof. Dr. Gunnar Brix
Division of Medical and Occupational Radiation Protection
Federal Office for Radiation Protection
Institut für Med. Strahlenhygiene
85764 Neuherberg
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: We investigated the cumulative radiation exposure and cancer risk of more than 1200 patients with ischemic heart diseases (IHD) from diagnostic and therapeutic imaging procedures performed 3 month before and 12 month after the date of diagnosis. The major findings were:
- 87% of patient exposure resulted from heart catheter procedures.
- The average cumulative effective dose was 13.3 mSv in males and 10.3 mSv in females. The highest dose was nearly 100 mSv.
- The estimated average attributable life-time risk of male and female patients to develop a radiation-induced cancer in their remaining life was 0.09 % and 0.07 %, respectively. This correspond to 1 excess cancer in about 1100 male and 1400 female IHD patients. The highest risk was 0.9 %.
- The effective dose is inadequate to characterize individual radiation risks, since neither the age nor the sex of the patient is taken into account. According to our results, cancer risks can vary by a factor of more than 10 for comparable values of the effective dose. (more…)