Radiation absorbed dose estimate for rubidium-82 determined from in vivo measurements in human subjects

Radiation absorbed doses from rubidium-82 injected intravenously were determined in two young men, aged 23 and 27, using a dynamic conjugate counting technique to provide data for the net organ integrated time-activity curves in five organs: kidneys, lungs, liver, heart, and testes. This technique utilized a tungsten collimated Anger camera and the accuracy was validated in a prestwood phantom. The data for each organ were compared with conjugate count rates of a reference Ge-68/Ga-68 standard which had been calibrated against the Rb-82 injected. The effects of attenuation in the body were eliminated. The MIRD method was used to calculate the organ self absorbed doses and the total organ absorbed doses. The mean total absorbed doses were as follows (mrads/mCi injected): kidneys 30.9, heart walls 7.5, lungs 6.0, liver 3.0, testes 2.0 (one subject only), red marrow 1.3, remainder of body 1.3 and, extrapolating to women, ovaries 1.2. This absorbed dose to the kidney is significantly less than the pessimistic estimate of 59.4 mrads/mCi, made assuming instantaneous uptake and complete extraction of activity with no excretion by the kidneys, which receive 20% of the cardiac output. Further, in a 68 year old man the renal self absorbed dose was approximately 40% less than the mean renal self absorbed dose of the younger men. This decrease is probably related to the decline in renal blood flow which occurs with advancing age but other factors may also contribute to the observed difference. 14 references, 4 figures, 2 tables