Absorbed dose to the fetus during bone scintigraphy.
The authors observed the uptake of radiopharmaceutical and calculated absorbed dose in fetuses of two patients who underwent bone scintigraphy with technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate. Dose estimates per administered activity were 17 mrad/mCi (4.6 microGy/MBq) for an 8-week-old fetus and 9.7 mrad/mCi (2.6 microGy/MBq) for an 18-week-old fetus. Neither fetus demonstrated radionuclide uptake above maternal background levels. The uterine activity showed rapid clearance, with an effective half-life of 12 minutes after reaching a maximum within 1 minute after injection. Major contribution to fetal dose comes from the presence of the radionuclide in the maternal bladder. The authors conclude that bone scintigraphy performed unknowingly in pregnant individuals presents negligible increased risk to the fetus.
Hedrick
W R
WR
Department of Radiology, Aultman Hospital, Canton, OH 44710.
DiSimone
R N
RN
Wolf
B H
BH
Langer
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta / Q000528:radiation effects; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D014599:Uterus / Q000528:radiation effects