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ASNC Endorses New Position Statement on Radiation Safety in Children with Congenital and Acquired Heart Disease

ASNC has endorsed a new position statement developed by the Image Gently Alliance to help improve radiation safety for children with heart disease. Andrew J. Einstein, MD, PhD, FASNC, presented the statement during the International Conference on Nuclear Cardiology and Cardiac CT (ICNC 2017) in Vienna, where he kicked off the program's Image Gently radiation safety series. The statement was simultaneously published in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging. 
About 1 million U.S. children are living with congenital heart disease, while cardiomyopathies and other types of acquired heart disease impact another one of every 100,000 children and teens each year, the statement notes. Cardiac computed tomography, nuclear cardiac imaging and fluoroscopically guided procedures have contributed to improved outcomes; however, “exposure to ionizing radiation is associated with potential risks, including an increased lifetime attributable risk of cancer.” ASNC's writing committee representative, Brian G. Abbott, MD, MASNC, and coauthors recommend optimization strategies, highlight the value of imaging teams and encourage shared decision-making with patients and families.
 
"The development of current cardiac imaging technologies has revolutionized the practice of cardiovascular medicine in children with congenital and acquired heart disease by facilitating improved diagnosis and less invasive intervention," the authors wrote. "It is now incumbent on the imaging community to ensure that these procedures are optimized to ensure image quality appropriate to the medical needs of the patient but at the lowest achievable dose."
 
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