Questionnaire survey report on in-house preparation of radiopharmaceuticals

With a focus on ^99mTc-labelled kit formulations most frequently prepared in hospitals as in-house prepared formulations, the authors conducted a questionnaire survey with the aim of grasping the current situation concerning the preparation work and other related work, which are deeply associated with quality assurance, of in-house formulations. The recovery rate from the 1,242 facilities is about 50%, but the tendency in the area and various facilities are considered to be represented. Judging from the type of facilities and hospital bed scale, single photon examination has been performed regardless of the scale, but it seems that PET examination and internal radiotherapy are performed mainly in large-scale facilities. In the Radiation Pharmaceutical Handling Guidelines (formulated by 4 organizations such as Japanese Society of Hospital Pharmacists, Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine Technology Society, etc.), it is required for radiotherapy workers to attend training workshops for the proper use of radiopharmaceuticals, and for facility's radiopharmaceutical managers to nominate a facility pharmacist. Many facilities record training course attendants, but the proportion of pharmacists is small. Responsible persons for milking work and the preparation of kit formulations were mainly radiological technicians, and the majority of institutions did not meet the requirements of the guidelines in their work and environmental level. In addition, most institutions did not prepare the records of radiopharmaceutical preparation. With regard to the improvements of these conditions, the necessity of exchanging views among stakeholders in the facilities was recognized. (A.O.)