Radiation Safety for Operators and Patients-Management of Pregnant Women in the Cath Lab and Mitigation of Fetal Risk

Management of Pregnant Women in the Cath Lab and Mitigation of Fetal Risk

Video Transcription

Video Summary

Dr. Michelle Volz discussed managing pregnant patients in the cath lab and reducing fetal risk. She emphasized that PCI is the standard of care for STEMI/NSTEMI in pregnancy and that indicated procedures should not be withheld because of pregnancy. She reviewed safe medications, including sedation, aspirin, heparin, phenylephrine, and select other agents, and advised avoiding DOACs and nuclear stress tests. She explained radiation thresholds, noting low fetal risk at typical cath lab doses, and recommended techniques like shielding, low-dose fluoroscopy, collimation, AP views, and minimizing magnification. She also supported pregnant physicians working in cath labs with proper precautions.

Asset Subtitle

Michele Voeltz, MD

Keywords

pregnancy cath lab

PCI in pregnancy

fetal radiation risk

safe medications pregnancy

STEMI NSTEMI management