Is it possible to reduce radiation exposure during transcatheter atrial septal defect closure in children?

Abstract

Objective: Cardiac catheterization continues to be a major source of radiation exposure for patients with congenital heart disease. As children are more prone to both deterministic and stochastic effects of radiation, every effort should be made to reduce radiation exposure. One way to reduce the radiation dose is to lower the pulse fluoroscopy rate. This study is an examination of the magnitude of radiation exposure with a 3.75 frames per second (fps) pulse fluoroscopy rate and a comparison with the previous 15 fps protocol used for transcatheter atrial septal defect (ASD) closure.