Radiation dose in interventional cardiology procedures: urgent need for monitoring dose and establishing diagnostic reference levels.

The use of fluoroscopy in interventional cardiology procedures may expose patients to levels of radiation that manifest in unintended outcomes. Such outcomes may include skin injury and cancer. Currently, there is limited understanding of the magnitude of dose administered in an individual procedure. Canada does not have a formal policy for monitoring and recording the radiation dose administered to patients. This article reviews existing American, European and international policies for both monitoring administered radiation dose and patient follow-up. As a subsequent focus, this article presents the process for setting benchmarks for optimizing administered dose in the Hamilton Health Sciences Heart Investigation Unit.