Interventional Fluoroscopists: A Study of Cancer Mortality in Radiologists and Physicians Performing Fluoroscopically-guided Procedures
During the past few decades, there has been dramatic growth in the numbers of higher-dose diagnostic x-ray examinations and fluoroscopically–guided (FG) procedures. These complex procedures use long and on-time radiological imaging, resulting in high radiation exposure not only to patients but also to physicians. The mortality experience and cumulative radiation exposure level to radiologists, cardiologists and other physicians performing FG procedures are not well known. Although cancer mortality has been studied previously in the U.S. radiologists, this study will update the previous findings and will provide longer term follow-up of radiologists who started practicing more recently who should have been exposed to much lower levels of exposure compared to those radiologists practicing in earlier years. Cancer mortality has not been investigated in the other physicians exposed to radiation from FG procedures. A large cohort of radiologists and other physicians exposed to radiation has been assembled to determine the cause of death compared to physicians who are not exposed to radiation.
For more information, contact Cari Kitahara.