Nuclear medicine

Article Abstract:

Nuclear medicine continues to provide advances for diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, as well as many fundamental insights into the complex workings of the human body. One of the major contributions of nuclear medicine is the development of radiopharmaceuticals. These are drugs that have been synthesized using radioactive components, which allows the drugs to be followed within the human body. This permits the determination of which substances within the body have come from the metabolic by-products of the original drug. Radioactivity also permits researchers to determine how much of the drug remains in the liver and in other organs, and how much is excreted by the kidneys. One example of how radioactive compounds may be used in diagnosis is in the detection of internal infections. Antibody molecules may be radioactively labelled with the isotope indium-111. When injected into a patient, these antibodies may accumulate at the site of an infection, such as an infection occurring within a grafted artery or within an abdominal abscess. Similarly, white blood cells may be radioactively labelled to detect accumulation at suspected sites of inflammation. Similarly, the substance metaiodobenzylguanidine has shown promise in the study of diseases involving adrenalin and noradrenalin. When synthesized using radioactive iodine-131, this substance may be traced to pheochromocytoma, an adrenalin-producing cancer, and adrenal medullary hyperplasia, and abnormality of the adrenal medulla. The same method may sometimes be used to evaluate tumors such as neuroblastoma. The potential applications of radiopharmaceuticals in the diagnosis and study of disease are limited only by the imagination of the nuclear medicine specialists. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Usage, Reports, Radioisotopes

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Nuclear medicine

Article Abstract:

In the field of nuclear medicine there were technological, diagnostic and treatment advances in 1992. Positron emission tomography (PET) is becoming more refined and sensitive and is proving especially useful in the detection and treatment of cancer. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is also undergoing improvement to improve sensitivity. The Food and Drug Administration approved the first radiolabeled antitumor monoclonal antibody at the end of 1992. The antibody was found to be effective in detecting a variety of cancers including ovarian and colorectal. The detection sensitivity for a nuclear scan with the radioactive antibody, a process known as immunoscintigraphy, was 69% compared to 68% for computed tomography (CT) scans to detect colorectal cancer. Immunoscintigraphy was more sensitive than CT scans in detecting pelvic and abdominal tumors. Immunoscintigraphy is not as effective in detecting liver cancer as the CT scans.

Innovations

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A prospective investigation of pulmonary embolism in women and men

Article Abstract:

Women who take estrogen, either as an oral contraceptive or as postmenopausal replacement therapy, may not have a higher risk of pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot lodges in a blood vessel in the lungs. In a study of 902 patients referred for a V/Q scan for suspected pulmonary embolism, only 16% of the women 50 years old or younger were diagnosed with pulmonary embolism, compared to 32% of the men. Risk factors for pulmonary embolism included recent surgery or immobilization; in addition, stroke, history of phlebitis and cancer were risk factors in women. The percentage of women taking estrogen who were diagnosed with pulmonary embolism was similar to the percentage who were not taking estrogen. Women taking oral contraceptives who had recently had surgery, however, were much more likely to have pulmonary embolism. The V/Q scan was not always accurate in diagnosing pulmonary embolism.

Health aspects, Demographic aspects, Pulmonary embolism, Oral contraceptives

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