Administered radiopharmaceutical doses in children: a survey of 13 pediatric hospitals in North America.
Universally applied standards for administering radiopharmaceutical doses in children do not presently exist. Hence, pediatric radiopharmaceutical dosimetry varies considerably from institution to institution and is generally based on the recommended adult dose adjusted for body mass.


METHODS
We surveyed 13 pediatric hospitals in North America to obtain objective data on dosimetry practices for 16 pediatric nuclear medicine examinations, including the minimum total radiopharmaceutical administered dose per examination, the total administered dose based on body mass, and maximum total doses in children.


RESULTS
The reported administered doses of radiopharmaceuticals to children vary over a relatively large range, especially with respect to minimum total administered doses.


CONCLUSIONS
This survey has identified a broad range of administered doses directly leading to variability in radiation-absorbed doses to patients. The nuclear medicine community should develop pediatric standards for radiopharmaceutical administered doses and reduce radiation exposure in children, such as through the use of modern software reconstruction techniques.
Treves
S Ted
ST
Division of Nuclear Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. treves@childrens.harvard.edu
Davis
Royal T
RT
Fahey
Frederic H
FH
D001822:Body Burden; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009656:North America; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011874:Radiometry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals