Monday, November 27 | 3:10 p.m.-3:20 p.m. | M7-SSPH05-2 | Room N229
Findings will be presented in this Monday afternoon presentation on organ-specific ionizing radiation doses in neonatal patients who undergo interventional procedures for congenital heart disease (CHD).
“[Ionizing radiation] exposure in early childhood may be associated with an increased risk of malignancy with neonates at especially higher risk due to their higher radiosensitivity and longer life expectancy than adults,” according to presenter Jeannette Wong-Siegel, MD, of the University of Washington in St. Louis, and colleagues.
The group used the National Cancer Institute dosimetry system for radiography and fluoroscopy (NCIRF) to estimate absolute organ-specific radiation doses in 10 cardiac catheterizations and 20 diagnostic fluoroscopic procedures in a cohort of neonates with cyanotic CHD who required early intervention.
Median frontal and lateral dose-area product (DAP, Gy-cm2) from the cardiac catheterizations was 1.57 and 1.19 Gy-cm2, with organ-specific radiation doses highest for lung from frontal view (8.1 mGy) and breast from lateral view (8.7 mGy), according to the findings.
DAP from the diagnostic fluoroscopic procedures was substantially lower, with a median DAP of 0.265 Gy-cm2 for upper gastrointestinal (GI), 0.161 Gy-cm2 for lower GI, 0.065 Gy-cm2 for genitourinary, and 0.045 Gy-cm2 for upper extremity procedures. In these cases, organ-specific doses varied by exposure field and were significantly lower compared to the cardiac catheterizations.
“This study is the first to describe organ-specific radiation dose from cardiac catheterizations and diagnostic fluoroscopic studies in a neonatal CHD population, and may help in our understanding of the potential contribution of early childhood [ionizing radiation] exposure to future risk of malignancy,” the researchers suggested.
Wong-Siegel has been awarded a 2023 Trainee Research Prize for fellows for the work.
