Evaluation of the quality control of the radiopharmaceuticals used at the nuclear medicine clinics of Recife, Brazil

The radiopharmaceuticals used in nuclear medicine must present high chemical and radiochemical purities in order to obtain images with contrast and clearness adequate for the diagnosis. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the presence of molybdenum, aluminium, as well as free TcO4- and TcO2 in the radiopharmaceuticals used at the nuclear medicine clinics of Recife, Brazil. The results obtained show that only one Tc generator presented Mo in the generator eluated with concentrations above the acceptable limits. The concentration of Al found in all the samples analysed was below acceptable limits. On the other hand, 73% of the MIBI radiopharmaceuticals samples showed inadequate labeling of Tc. (author)