Radiation-associated lens opacities in catheterization personnel: results of a survey and direct assessments.

Purpose: To estimate ocular radiation doses and prevalence of lens opacities in a group of interventional catheterization professionals and offer practical recommendations based on these findings to avoid future lens damage.

Materials And Methods: Subjects included 58 physicians and 69 nurses and technicians attending an interventional cardiology congress and appropriate unexposed age-matched controls. Lens dose estimates were derived from combining experimental measurements in catheterization laboratories with questionnaire responses regarding workload, types of procedures, and use of eye protection.