AN INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY INVESTIGATION: PATIENT EXPOSURE TO RADIATION AND INTER-OPERATOR VARIABILITY IN AN IRISH SETTING.

Aim: To evaluate patient radiation exposure for Diagnostic Coronary Angiography (DCA) and Percutaneous Cardiac Intervention (PCI) performed by different operators.

Methods And Results: Retrospective (n = 160) and prospective (n = 62) data for DCA (n = 179) and PCI (n = 43) examinations performed by interventional cardiologists (n = 3) using the same imaging equipment were reviewed. The operator with consistently low diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) was interviewed for their personal perceptions upon operator training.