Radiation dose to patients and public exposure in cardiac rest and stress single photon emission computed tomography examinations.

Cardiovascular nuclear medicine (NM) imaging examinations expose patients to extremely high absorbed doses of ionizing radiation, which necessitates extensive efforts to reduce the doses without compromising the quality of images. This study aims to assess patients' radiation doses to patients and public exposure in Cardiac rest and stress single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scans. The patients' exposure was calculated for 21 patients using the administered activity (AA, MBq). (GE SPECT) was the device used for all patients. AA (MBq) mean and range were 370 for Rest and 1110 for Stress. The average range of the dose rate was 1.59 (0.67–2.34) mR/h for rest and 7.29 (4.2–9.98) mR/h for stress when computed at 30 cm from the patient's chest level after injection. At 100 cm from the patient, the mean dose rate values were 0.37 (0.16–0.73) mR/h for rest and 1.39 (1.01–2.0) mR/h for stress. The overall effective dose is 12.1 mSv per rest and stress SPECT procedure. The mean effective dose for cardiac rest is comparable with previously published studies while the effective dose from cardiac stress is higher than previously published studies. The variation in the effective dose depends on several factors, including the department's clinical indication imaging protocols and radiation safety measures. • The patient's effective dose and dose were quantified during cardiac rest and stress SPECT procedures. • The mean effective dose for cardiac rest is comparable with previously published studies. • The effective dose from cardiac stress is higher than previously published studies. • The current AA activity for rest and stress is lower than the DRL and the previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]