An earlier survey among interventional radiologists at a congress in New York in 2003 revealed that 40% had lens opacities possibly attributed to radiation. Now, Ariel Duran from the University School of Medicine in Montevideo and colleagues have investigated if the same risks were present in interventional cardiology. At two regional meetings of the Latin American Society of Interventional Cardiology (SOLACI), they asked interventional cardiologists and other cath lab staff to undergo pupillary dilatation and slit lamp examination of their eye lenses, with cataract staging scored by three independent ophthalmologists.
Altogether, a total of 116 cath lab personnel were screened for the study and compared with a control group of 93 age-matched volunteers never exposed to ionising radiation.
Results show posterior subcapsular opacities were found in a 38% of cardiologists compared to 12% of the control group (p<0.005). In addition, subcapsular opacities were found in 21% of cath lab paramedics (p=0.13 when compared with controls).
For those cardiologists with posterior subcapsular lens changes, Merriam-Focht scores (identifying levels of severity of lens opacity) ranged from 0.5 to 1. Of these 12/22 reported never or infrequently using eye protection, and 13/22 reported never using leaded ceiling screens.