Potchen, E. James

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 31 | Number 2 Article 9May 1964The Larkin Report for 1963: Isotopic Localizationof the Parathyroid GlandE. James PotchenFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationPotchen, E. James (1964) "The Larkin Report for 1963: Isotopic Localization of the Parathyroid Gland," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 31: No. 2 , Article 9.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol31/iss2/9Fig. 1 THE JOHN J. LARKIN, Jr. MEMORIAL GRANT in aid for Medical Research Established by the Saint Luke Guild of Catholic Physicians of Boston To honor the memory of the late Dr. John J. Larkin, Jr., Saint Luke's Gt Id of Catholic Physicians of Boston makes available each year the T ohn f. Lar, :n, fr., Memorial Grant-in-Aid for Basic Research in Human Biology or M edic ze. A sum of $1000 is designated for this award to be used at the discretio of the recipient. The grant may be awarded to a research fellow, teaching fell c w, resident, intern, medical student or pre-medical student who is a resident of e Greater Boston area. ihis award may be given to one individual or may e divided among several individuals. In the event no suitable application is ·e-ceived, the award may be suspended until the following year. The stipenc. is intended to provide some financial support for the recipient that would otl :r-wise not be available through research grants . Applicants should apply in writing to the undersigned, and are reques ed to submit information regarding age, residence, academic and professio ta! qualifications, and publications if any. A protocol setting forth in detail specific aims, methods, facilities, supervision and potential significance of e projected research planned should be accompanied by a letter from the Direc or of the school, college or hospital department in which the work will be carr ed out. It is stressed again that the prime purpose of this award is to ENCOl R-AGE ORIGINAL RESEARCH and not merely to add to the tidal wave of scientific literature. It is expected, however, that publication of any papers ba~ed on work aided by this grant will include the usual footnote acknowledging st ch support. Applications must be filed with the undersigned before March 1st, 1964 a,1d are judged by a committee of seven physicians and investigators. The award v,. ill be presented on the occasion of. the annual Laetare Dinner. 62 CHARLES A. KANE, M.D. Chairman, Larkin Award Committee 80 E. Concord Street Boston, Massachusetts LINACRE QUARTE RLY The Larkin Report For 1963: Isotopic Localization of the Parathyroid Gland* E. JAMES PoTCHEN, M.D.** Hyperparathyroidism is a disease of protean manifestation caused by the abnormal activity of a small parathy-roid gland. The ability to identify ex-ternally a hyperactive parathyroid should be helpful in the medical evaluation and surgical localization of this disease. The goal of this project is the development of a clinical tech-nic for the selective isotopic labeling of hyperactive parathyroid glands. The basic premise that an injected amino acid precursor of parathyroid polypeptides would at some time be found within the parathyroid gland has now been well-established in both experimental animals and human sub-jects1, 2, a. The autoradiographic dem-onstration of an isotopically labeled amino acid within the rat parathyroid was the basis of the initial experi-ments. The parathyroid activity was stimulated by a low calcium diet. Thy-roid protein anabolism, · which was considered the most probable source of extraneous radioactive emission in the neck, was effectively suppressed with thyroxine. Methionine was se- . lected as the amino acid of choice for 1Potchen, E. J. and D ealy, J. B., Jr .: Se-lective isotopic labeling of the parathy-roid gland. ]. Nuclear Med. 4:203 May 1963 (abstract). · 2Potchen, E. J.: Isotopic labeling of the rat parathyroid demonstrated by auto-radiography. ]. Nuclear Med. 4 :480-484 Nov. 1963. 3Potchen, E. J. and Sodee, D. B.: Selec-tive isotopic labeling of the human para-thyroid. ( to be published) these experiments because of th~ av.ail-ability of the Se-75 selenometh1onu~e. This is a gamma-emitting, metabolic-ally active protein precursor whJCh had previously been used for ex~e:~al scanning of the pancre~s. The m1t~al experiments utilized tntiat~d . methio-nine as the low beta-emission was necessary for quality autoradiography. The autoradiographs demonstrated a selective isotopic labeling within the parathyroid in each instance. . After these developmental expen-ments Se-75 selenomethionine was used in the study of selected patients with hyperparathyroidism. One pa-tient, who was prepared with oral tri-iodo thyronine, received Se-75 selenomethionine, intravenously, one hour prior to the surgical .re~oval of a parathyroid adenoma. This tissue ":as radioassayed and compared with blood, thyroid, and muscle rer~oved at the same time. The parathyroid tis-sue had the greatest concentration of radioisotope by a ratio of 7.8 to 1. This technic has subsequently been used for the preoperative external scanning of patients with hyperpara-thyroidism. The proced~:e consists . of administering oral trnodothyronme for 4 to 7 days preceding the intra-venous injection of 200 me. of Se-75 selenomethionine. The neck is then scanned serially using a Picker Mag-nascanner. In some instances , focal isotopic accretion has . been correct~y identified as hyperactive parathyroid tissue which was subsequently con-firmed at surgical exploration. The *Presented before the Guild of St. Luke of Boston at Boston College, Jan . 29, 1964. **Harvard Medical School Department of Radiology at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital; Larkin Award winner, 1963. · MAY, 1964 63 _ .l, serum flux of selenomethionine has made the scan timing of critical im-portance. Experiments to evaluate these ki netic interrelationships are in progress. In summary, a technic has been de-veloped which in some instances has been successful in th.e preoperative identification and localization of para-thyroid adenomas. The experimental data are incomplete regarding the re-liability and accuracy of this tech ic. Therefore the procedure cannot, as yet, be recommended for routine cl '.li-cal use. The refinements and sta d-ardization of this technic should I ·o-vide a simple and useful method ·or increasing the accuracy of din :al diagnosis and anatomic localization of hyperactive parathyroids. (Se-75 selenomethionine was ~ tp· plied by E. R. Squibb and Com pan ·.) FEDERATION EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING SCHEDULED 64 The Executive Board of the National Federation of Catholic Physicians' Guilds will hold its annual meeting June 24, 1964. Time: 10 :00 a.m. - 1 :30 p.m. Place: Sir Francis Drake Hotel, San Francisco, California. · The Officers of the national organization and one delegate from each active constituent Guild comprising the Board will conduct business. LINACRE QUARTERLY Has The Time Come?* REVEREND JAMES A. O 'DONOHOE, J .C.D.** In the spring of 1963 the Cat~10l!c medical world received a rather signi-ficant jolt when Dr. John Rock pu~-lished The Time Has Come . This book, which claims to be "a Catholic doctor's proposals to end the battle over birth control," occasioned a real stir in all medical circles, both Catho-lic and non-Catholic. It has been the object of extraordinary praise and of violent condemnation. It has been strongly advocated almost as often as it has been vehemently denounced. As many reviewers have pointed out, The Time Has Come is basically an apologia for "the pill. " Since Catholic physicians recognize most of the basic fallacies in Dr. Rock's argu-mentation on behalf of the purely contraceptive values of the progesta-tional steroids, this article will pre-scind from a discussion of the moral implications of this use and will rather focus the reader's attention on three points suggested by the book which should be of interest to all Catholic doctors as well as to all other members of the Church: 1) the formation of the Christian conscience, 2) ·the Christian's right to professional free-dom in the face of ecclesiastical pro-nouncements, and 3) the obligations incumbent upon the · Christian of get-ting involved in matters which are of real concern for the community. · No exhaustive treatment of these salient points will be attempted here. This article intends only the stimulation of mature thought on these fundamental problems and that in view of their particular applicability to The Time Has Come. FORMATION OF THE CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE In the preface to his book, Dr. Rock, in attempting to justify his stand on the birth control issue, re-calls a conversation he had as a boy with the parochial assistant of his home town, Father Finnick. The priest is quoted as saying: " John, al-ways stick to your conscience. Never Jet anyone else keep it for you · and I mean anyone else." As the continuation of Christ's re-demptive activity ( an action incident-ally which has man's freedom as its purpose), the Cat ho! ic Church must be the defender of true freedom. Among the various freedoms she must proclaim is freedom of conscience, and this indeed she does even to the point of teaching that one is obliged to follow a conscience which is objec-tively ·erroneous! ! What is often for-gotten in this matter, however, is the fact that the Church also insists upon the . obligation such a person has to correct his erroneous conscience. Here there arises a serious problem but one which must be met : where does one find the real truth against which one can measure that which his conscience apparently presents as the truth? The Christian has two sources from which he can derive the truth: reason and revelation. In itself, reason is cap-able of leading us to the truth but, because of the weakened state of our fallen nature, it must be frequently *Condensation, by the author, of lecture presented to the Guild of St. Luke of Boston at Carney Hospital, November 20, 1963. **Professor of Justice and Right, St. John 's Seminary, Brighton (Boston) , Mass . . MAY, 1964 65 

The Larkin Report for 1963: Isotopic Localization of the Parathyroid Gland

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The Larkin Report for 1963: Isotopic Localization of the Parathyroid Gland

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