The evaluation of urine activity and external dose rate from patients receiving radioiodine therapy for thyroid cancer

The aim of this study was to determine the external dose rate of iodine retention as a function of time in the bodies of thyroid cancer patients during their isolation period in the hospital. Urine samples were collected at 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th h and 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th d from 83 patients after oral administration of I-131 and counted. The external dose rates were also simultaneously determined at the same time points. Then, it was expressed as retained radioiodine body activity versus dose rate. Effective half life calculated from urine sample measurements was found as 18.41.8 h within the first 24 h and 642.7 h between 48 and 120 h. According to this results, the external dose rate (20 Sv h(1)), which patients could be discharged, was achieved after 48 h for 3700 and 5550 MBq, and after 72 h for 7400 MBq of I-131 treatments

Determining and Managing Fetal Radiation Dose from Diagnostic Radiology Procedures in Turkey

Objective: We intended to calculate approximate fetal doses in pregnant women who underwent diagnostic radiology procedures and to evaluate the safety of their pregnancies

Determining and Managing Fetal Radiation Dose from Diagnostic Radiology Procedures in Turkey

OBJECTIVE: We intended to calculate approximate fetal doses in pregnant women who underwent diagnostic radiology procedures and to evaluate the safety of their pregnancies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We contacted hospitals in different cities in Turkey where requests for fetal dose calculation are usually sent. Fetal radiation exposure was calculated for 304 cases in 218 pregnant women with gestational ages ranging from 5 days to 19 weeks, 2 days. FetDose software (ver. 4.0) was used in fetal dose calculations for radiographic and computed tomography (CT) procedures. The body was divided into three zones according to distance from the fetus. The first zone consisted of the head area, the lower extremities below the knee, and the upper extremities; the second consisted of the cervicothoracic region and upper thighs; and the third consisted of the abdominopelvic area. Fetal doses from radiologic procedures between zones were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test and a Bonferroni-corrected Mann-Whitney U-test. RESULTS: The average fetal doses from radiography and CT in the first zone were 0.05 ± 0.01 mGy and 0.81 ± 0.04 mGy, respectively; 0.21 ± 0.05 mGy and 1.77 ± 0.22 mGy, respectively, in the second zone; and 6.42 ± 0.82 mGy and 22.94 ± 1.28 mGy, respectively, in the third zone (p < 0.001). Our results showed that fetal radiation exposures in our group of pregnant women did not reach the level (50 mGy) that is known to increase risk for congenital anomalies. CONCLUSION: Fetal radiation exposure in the diagnostic radiology procedures in our study did not reach risk levels that might have indicated abortion