Evaluation of radiation doses in pediatric interventional cardiology based on the purpose of the procedures

Pediatric interventional cardiology is widely used for the diagnosis and treatment of congenital or acquired heart conditions with reduced invasiveness. However, the associated radiation exposure raises concern due to children's increased radiosensitivity and longer life expectancy. This study aimed to evaluate and compare radiation doses in pediatric patients undergoing interventional cardiology procedures, categorized as diagnostic (n = 131) or therapeutic (n = 84). Data were obtained from Radiation Dose Structured Reports (RDSRs) and analyzed by age (0–1, 1–5, 5–10, 10–15, >15 years) and weight (<5, 5–15, 15–30, 30–50, 50–80 kg). The median dose-area product (P_KA) for diagnostic procedures ranged from 0.85 Gy cm² (<1 year) to 7.08 Gy cm² (>15 years), and for therapeutic procedures from 1.04 to 15.48 Gy cm² in the same age groups. Similarly, P_KA by weight group ranged from 0.53 to 7.31 Gy cm² (diagnostic) and from 0.55 to 3.25 Gy cm² (therapeutic). Therapeutic procedures consistently showed higher radiation doses than diagnostic ones across all age and weight groups. Statistical analyses confirmed that the differences between diagnostic and therapeutic procedures were significant (p < 0.05) in older and heavier groups. These findings emphasize the need for designed dose optimization strategies considering patient size and procedural purpose to improve radiation protection in pediatric cardiology.