In vivo diagnostic nuclear medicine experience

With the increased use of radiopharmaceuticals for pediatric diagnostic testing, scientific interest in pediatric nuclear medicine has also increased, as evidenced by the amount of medical literature devoted to pediatric dosimetry and the addition of pediatric sessions of the major nuclear medicine meetings. Previously published papers dealing with pediatric experience data have indicated that the radiopharmaceutical activity levels being administered are higher than necessary. This paper examines current data with respect to this concern. The data presented review actual case-by-case in vivo diagnostic pediatric experience data collected from 100 United States hospitals. Ten pediatric patients at each hospital were selected to provide a database of the pediatric procedures, the types of radiopharmaceuticals being used, and the activity levels being administered. This paper compares actual with theoretical experience using computer-generated graphics and allows each reader to conduct his or her own visual analysis