Impact of Patient and Procedure-Related Factors on Radiation Exposure from Uterine Artery Embolization.

PURPOSE: To determine the range of radiation dose metrics for uterine artery embolization and the impact of patient and procedure factors on those measures.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Procedure records of 515 uterine embolization procedures were reviewed and various metrics recorded, including patient demographics, body mass index (BMI), radiation exposure measures and procedure-related details. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the measures, and appropriate parametric and nonparametric tests were used to compare and assess the correlation between the measures and the cumulative dose (CD), dose area product and fluoroscopy time (FT). Multivariable regression analysis was used to assess the impact of individual factors on the measures of radiation dose.

RESULTS

The strongest correlation among the measures compared were between CD and BMI (r = 0.70), while the correlation between BMI and FT was weak (r = 0.23). Dose was higher for those procedures done with aortography and those who had TAGM as the embolic agent. Multivariable analysis demonstrated an increase of 7.4% in CD for each increase in BMI, 5.9% for each increase in cm uterine length. FT was impacted to a lesser extent, with an increase of 2.8% per unit BMI. Increasing procedure time had a greater impact on FT (r = 0.56) than on CD (r = 0.33).

CONCLUSION

Among the measured variables, BMI had the greatest impact on CD and has a substantial impact on the risk of radiation-induced skin injury, even without prolonged FT.