Radiation dose to the pediatric population of Slovak Republic from diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures

The increased number of in vitro diagnostic nuclear medicine examinations has created the need for more precise determination of radiation dose to the population, specially to the children. A questionnaire survey has been performed on all nuclear medicine facilities in Slovak Republic through 1982 to 1994 with a special attention to pediatric patients in 1994. The information obtained was about the age distribution, number of different types of examinations, radiopharmaceuticals used and the value of mean administered radioactivity per exam. These data were used to evaluate the mean effective dose per exam and per capita, the collective effective dose for special type of examinations, for different radiopharmaceuticals and for radionuclides used in diagnostic procedures. In calculations we used the best available biokinetic models of the distribution of radiopharmaceuticals in organs as a function of age. The results show that the Slovak Republic appeared favorable in comparison to other countries in the judicious use of diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures performed on pediatric population. (author)