July 26, 2012 — Any exposure to radiation, no matter how small, has the potential of leading to future health issues, including many types of cancer, medical experts agree. Doing all you can to limit your lifetime radiation exposure should be a priority for patients and health care providers.
“The amount of radiation anyone is exposed to for medical procedures should be controlled as much as possible,” said Mansour Razminia, MD, cardiac electrophysiologist at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago. “In electrophysiology procedures, many patients are exposed to X-ray radiation for several minutes up to two to three hours. While radiation exposure is closely monitored, we constantly look for ways to minimize it. Many people have multiple medical procedures that include radiation, accumulating exposure over their lifetime.”
To reduce the amount of fluoroscopy, or X-ray radiation, Razminia and his team of nurses and technicians worked with other imaging tools, such as 3-D mapping and ultrasound, to develop a new standard for radiation-free electrophysiology procedures in adult population offered for the first time in Chicago at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. These complex electrophysiology procedures, such as cardiac ablation, physically correct electric impulses in the heart. To be as minimally invasive as possible, physicians use imaging software to guide their instruments through the body directly to the heart.
For more information: www.advocatehealth.com/masonic
August 27, 2024 
