TY - JOUR T1 - Risk of Radiation Exposure to Clinical Staff from Paracenteses of Large-Volume Chylous Ascites Following <sup>177</sup>Lu-DOTATATE Infusion JF - Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology JO - J. Nucl. Med. Technol. DO - 10.2967/jnmt.121.262820 SP - jnmt.121.262820 AU - Sameer Tipnis AU - William J Rieter AU - Vladimir Henderson-Suite AU - Leonie Gordon Y1 - 2021/12/01 UR - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/early/2021/12/20/jnmt.121.262820.abstract N2 - 177Lu-DOTATATE has gained wide clinical acceptance for the treatment of advanced gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors; however, little is known regarding its accumulation in ascites. As such, clinical staff performing paracenteses shortly after a treatment dose may be concerned about their potential radiation exposure, or the risk of contamination. Methods: In this report, therapeutic paracenteses were performed on a patient with metastatic intestinal carcinoid complicated by recurrent chylous ascites at various time intervals following a standard 7.4 GBq dose of 177Lu-DOTATATE. Samples of the fluid were analyzed in a scintillation counter to estimate the concentration of radioactivity. Results: The concentration of activity in the ascitic fluid obtained 3 days after an infusion was exceptionally low (175.3 ± 25.9 Bq/mL). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that paracenteses conducted as soon as 3 days after a standard dose of 177Lu-DOTATATE pose little to no risk in terms of radiation safety to staff performing the procedure. ER -