This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (26)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Otolaryngology/ Head & Neck Surgery  • Endocrine Disease of Head & Neck  • Radiation Therapy  • Endocrine Diseases  • Thyroid/ Parathyroid Diseases  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Perry W. Grigsby, MD; Barry A. Siegel, MD; Susan Baker, MBA; John O. Eichling, PhD

JAMA. 2000;283:2272-2274.

Context  In May 1997, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) revised its patient release regulations, allowing for outpatient administration of larger activities of sodium iodide ¹³¹I than previously permitted.

Objective  To measure the radiation exposure to household members from patients receiving outpatient ¹³¹I therapy for thyroid carcinoma in accordance with the new regulations.

Design  Consecutive case series from October 1998 to June 1999.

Setting and Patients  Thirty patients who received outpatient ¹³¹I therapy following thyroidectomy for differentiated thyroid carcinoma were enrolled, along with their 65 household members and 17 household pets.

Main Outcome Measure  Radiation exposure to household members and 4 rooms in each home, as monitored with dosimeters for 10 days following ¹³¹I administration.

Results  The patients received ¹³¹I doses ranging from 2.8 to 5.6 GBq (mean, 4.3 GBq). The radiation dose to 65 household members ranged from 0.01 mSv to 1.09 mSv (mean, 0.24 mSv). The dose to 17 household pets ranged from 0.02 mSv to 1.11 mSv (mean, 0.37 mSv). The mean dose to the 4 rooms ranged from 0.17 mSv (kitchen) to 0.58 mSv (bedroom).

Conclusion  In our study, ¹³¹I doses to household members of patients receiving outpatient ¹³¹I therapy were well below the limit (5.0 mSv) mandated by current NRC regulations.

Author Affiliations: Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

May 3, 2000
JAMA. 2000;283(17):2317-2318.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Cost Savings of Patients With a MACIS Score Lower Than 6 When Radioactive Iodine Is Not Given
Pace-Asciak et al.
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2007;133:870-873.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Radiation exposure for 'caregivers' during high-dose outpatient radioiodine therapy
Marriott et al.
Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2007;123:62-67.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Rat Sodium Iodide Symporter for Radioiodide Therapy of Cancer
Mitrofanova et al.
Clin. Cancer Res. 2004;10:6969-6976.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Radioiodine Dose for Remnant Ablation in Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma: A Randomized Clinical Trial in 509 Patients
Bal et al.
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2004;89:1666-1673.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Practical Methodology for Patient Release After Tositumomab and 131I-Tositumomab Therapy
Siegel et al.
JNM 2002;43:354-363.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Hospital Discharge of Patients with Thyroid Carcinoma Treated with 131I
Venencia et al.
JNM 2002;43:61-65.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Current Approaches to Primary Therapy for Papillary and Follicular Thyroid Cancer
Mazzaferri and Kloos
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2001;86:1447-1463.
FULL TEXT  

Applying Nuclear Regulatory Commission Guidelines to the Release of Patients Treated with Sodium Iodine-131
Tuttle and Brown
J. Nucl. Med. Technol. 2000;28:275-279.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT