Evaluation of radiation dose during the percutaneous angioplasty for arteriovenous shunt assembling

Percutaneous angioplasty (PTA) for dysfunctional hemodialysis is usually performed by radiologists, but not cardiologists, in Taiwan, so that the radiation dose in patients and physicians are usually unknown and related studies are rare. In this study, we are pioneering an investigation into the radiation dose in percutaneous angioplasty for arteriovenous shunt assembling and the effect of RADPAD device, a lead-free surgical drape containing Bi and Ba, on the decrease of a radiation dose in the non-targeted organs of the patient and also the operator. The radiation dose in a typical digital subtraction angiography (DSA) by the PTA protocol under a fixed field of view (FOV), was measured with optically simulated luminescent dosimeters arranged in a PIXY RS-102 anthropomorphic phantom. The results indicate that there is a significant dose reduction at the hands (0.022±0.002 mGy before treatment vs. 0.014±0.001 mGy after treatment; P=0.021), but not at the lens (0.027±0.003 mGy before treatment vs. 0.018±0.001 mGy after treatment; P=0.058), and the gonads (0.026±0.003 mGy before treatment vs. 0.020±0.001 mGy after treatment; P=0.058), of the cardiologist/operator after treatment with the RADPAD drape. At the patient's abdomen, the dose significantly decreased from 1.597±0.104 mGy to 0.031±0.002 mGy (P In conclusion, the RADPAD drape significantly reduced radiation exposure to the patient during the PTA for the arteriovenous shunt assembling, which is suggested should be applied to the current cardiac catheterization.