Neuropsychological Testing in Interventional Cardiology Staff after Long-Term Exposure to Ionizing Radiation

At a glance

Type of study

Original research, Cross-sectional survey

Who was studied

Interventional cardiologists, Nurses, Mixed lab staff

Size

n = 166 participants (83 exposed, 83 controls)

Topics

Personal protective equipment

Summary based on

the abstract

What it found

• Cath lab cardiologists and nurses scored significantly lower than unexposed controls on delayed recall, visual short-term memory and semantic lexical access.

  Key figures: 83 exposed vs 83 controls

• No dose-response relationship was detected.

• The authors suggest the reduced skills point to alterations in left hemisphere structures, which are more exposed in interventional cardiology staff.

• The authors recommend head protection as mandatory good practice for invasive cardiology personnel.

Limits to keep in mind

This is an observational comparison of exposed and unexposed groups, so confounding cannot be excluded, and no dose-response was found. The abstract gives no detail on country, how controls were matched or how exposure was measured.

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• Evaluation of Back Pain and Lead Apron Use Among Staff at a District General Hospital (2021, Cross-sectional survey)
• Radiation-associated lens opacities in catheterization personnel: results of a survey and direct assessments (2013, Cross-sectional survey)
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