Original articleOccupational radiation dose associated with Rb-82 myocardial perfusion positron emission tomography imaging
Section snippets
Materials and methods
This study was reviewed and approved by our hospital’s institutional review board. For the Rb-82 measurements, we obtained 50 rest or stress scan measurements in 41 patients undergoing clinically indicated stress-rest myocardial perfusion scans. Similar Rb-82 doses were administered to all patients. The Rb-82–associated exposure measurements were carried out in the shielded PET–computed tomography (CT) scan room during the use of a GE Discovery ST PET-CT system with a 16-slice multidetector CT
Background Radiation Exposure in PET Room
Room background radiation ranged from 0.02 to 0.07 μSv/h (0.002-0.007 mrem/h). At 0.5 m from the Sr-82/Rb-82 generator, the dose rate approximated 0.3 to 0.4 μSv/h (0.03-0.040 mrem/h). In 8 cases the injection tubing registered a mean of 20.3 μSv/h (2.03 mrem/h) at 7.5 minutes after Rb-82 injection.
Rb-82 Exposure During Generator Change
Exposure was measured at one generator change, which involved removing the old generator after 4 weeks of use, purging of tubing lines, placement of the new generator into the cabinet, and running a
Discussion
The International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) recommends an occupational effective dose constraint of 20 mSv (2000 mrem) per year, averaged over a period of 5 years.12 In contrast, in the United States the annual maximum permissible effective dose for occupational radiation workers is set at 50 mSv (5000 mrem) per year.13 At our institution, As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) violation notices are distributed and investigated when any worker receives more than 10% (ALARA I)
Acknowledgment
We thank the following technical and exercise physiology staff of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital PET-CT Laboratory, who graciously facilitated this study: Erica Calcagno, MS, Sharon Crugnale, MS, Christine Edwards, CNMT, Patricia Farago, CNMT, Jolene Meserve, CNMT, Scott Thomas, CNMT, and David Yang, MS.
Dr Castronovo has indicated he has no financial conflicts of interest. Dr Dorbala is on the Speakers’ Bureau of Bracco Diagnostics. Dr Di Carli is on the Speakers’ Bureau and is a grant
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2009, Journal of the American College of CardiologyCitation Excerpt :It should be noted, however, that positron emitting tracers typically provide less radiation burden to the patient when compared with SPECT tracers used for the same diagnostic purpose, which is, in part, due to their much shorter half-lives. Also, the radiation burden to staff involved in cardiac PET imaging has been investigated, and due to differences in radiotracer administration, scan acquisition, and stress-testing tasks, doses with PET seem to be lower for staff (as for patients) when compared with single-photon emitting tracers (52). In a 2005 review, 8 studies that compared perfusion PET with coronary angiography, representing a total of nearly 800 patients, were summarized, and a mean sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 92% for detection of significant CAD were observed (29).
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AR Schleipman is a recipient of a research grant funded by the Society of Nuclear Medicine Technologist Section Professional Development and Education Fund (SNM-PDEF), which partially supported this work.