Radiation Safety in Nuclear Cardiology—Current Knowledge and Practice: Results From the 2011 American Society of Nuclear Cardiology Member Survey

Einstein AJ, Tilkemeier P, Fazel R, et al. — Mon, 06 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Nuclear stress testing is well recognized as an effective technique for diagnosing coronary disease, predicting patient outcomes, and guiding management. Numerous evidence-based appropriate indications and practice guideline recommendations have been published regarding accepted uses of nuclear stress tests (NSTs) across a wide spectrum of patients with known or suspected coronary disease. However, the approximate 10 million NSTs performed annually account for greater than 10% of the entire ionizing radiation burden to the US population. One recent study, while pointing out that cancer risk from a single NST is small, projected on a population level that NSTs may result in thousands of radiation-attributable cancers annually, partially offsetting their benefits.

AMA Publishing Group: Stress Topic Collection

Radiation Safety in Nuclear Cardiology—Current Knowledge and Practice: Results From the 2011 American Society of Nuclear Cardiology Member Survey