[Nuclear medical inpatient treatment in Germany - analysis of structured quality reports 2004-2008].
All public licensed hospitals of Germany are obligated since 2004 to establish and to publish a structured biennial quality report. The aim of this study was to analyse the quality reports from 2008 of clinics with nuclear-medicine therapy ward and to investigate developments for the inpatient nuclear-medicine therapy by comparing the results with the quality reports of the years 2004 and 2006.


METHODS
All available structured quality reports of clinics with a nuclear-medicine therapy ward of the years 2004, 2006 and 2008 were evaluated.


RESULTS
The total number of inpatient treatment cases in 2008 amounted to 54190 (2006: 54884; 2004: 57366). This corresponds to a decrease of 5.5% in comparison to 2004. The number of the therapy wards decreased at the same time to currently 117 (2006: 120; 2004: 124). Remarkable changes were found in the spectrum of the main diagnosis. Thus, the most frequent diagnosis with the ICD-code E05 (hyperthyroidism) decreased continuously from 37747 treatments in 2004 and 34764 in 2006 to 31756 in the year 2008. In contrast, the ICD-diagnoses for thyroid cancer (C73, Z08) with 14761 cases in 2008 increased with time (2006: 13426; 2004: 12581).


CONCLUSIONS
In analogy to the observations from Europe after introduction of an iodine prophylaxis the improved iodine supply in Germany has led to a decline of the radioiodine therapy due to hyperthyroidism.
Lorenz
R
R
Klinik und Poliklinik für Nuklearmedizin, Universität Würzburg, Universitätsklinikum Haus A4, Oberdürrbacher Str. 6, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. lorenz_r@klinik.uni-wuerzburg.de
Dietlein
M
M
Reiners
C
C
D000328:Adult; D005858:Germany; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D006980:Hyperthyroidism / Q000532:radiotherapy; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009683:Nuclear Medicine / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care