Nuclear Medicine Patient Issues

The following FAQs have been developed by our topic editors for this category:

			Nuclear Medicine - Diagnostic Procedures
			Therapy—Nuclear Medicine

The following HPS Web pages also address this category:

			Benefits of Medical Radiation Exposures
			Doses from Medical Radiation Sources
			Radiation Exposure from Medical Exams and Procedures

The following health physics questions have been answered by an expert and approved by our editors for inclusion in our "Ask the Experts" feature. Click on the question to see the answer.

Questions in this Category Are in the Following Subcategories:
•  Diagnostic Nuclear Medicine
•  Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine
•  PET
•  Miscellaneous
Diagnostic Nuclear Medicine
Q172	–	What is the difference between nuclear medicine and health physics?
Q1035	–	Effective half-life of technetium-99m MAA
Q1236	–	Calculate airborne concentration of xenon-133
Q1324	–	Importance of chemical properties of technetium-99m
Q1877	–	Radionuclides in diagnosis
Q2768	–	Impact of nuclear medicine
Q3040	–	Effective half life of technetium-99m tests
Q3081	–	Are there bad effects from nuclear medicine exams?
Q4166	–	Breast-feeding after iodine-131 thyroid test
Q4220	–	Risks of bone scan
Q4779	–	Thallium Still in My Body
Q4883	–	Too much radiation for a 75-year-old woman
Q5240	–	Iodine-131 risk to son
Q5485	–	Thallium-201 stress test and family member
Q5822	–	Close contact with child after HIDA scan
Q6940	–	Long-term effects from heart stress test
Q7133	–	Shielding in a nuclear stress laboratory
Q7171	–	Concerned about multiple x rays and nuclear medicine studies
Q7185	–	Pregnant when nuclear medicine study performed
Q7187	–	Has nuclear medicine exam affected woman's fertility?
Q7244	–	What is the risk to my toddler from DMSA scan?
Q7251	–	Radiation exposure and risk from a cardiac stress test
Q7272	–	Current and future risks from a Myoview stress test
Q7314	–	Low-dose iodine-131 therapy concerns
Q7376	–	Dose for a gastric emptying procedure
Q7485	–	Radiation exposure at work from nuclear medicine patients
Q7523	–	Is there a risk from a thyroid scan?
Q7645	–	Heart scan with sestamibi
Q7673	–	Will a stress test affect my family?
Q7888	–	Could a stress test injection affect blood pressure?
Q7917	–	Concern about exposure from too many exams
Q8060	–	How long does a heart stress test expose family members?
Q8077	–	What is my dose from my bone scan?
Q8125	–	Can nuclear medical technicians administer iodine-131 for diagnostic studies?
Q8131	–	Can I be around my baby after my bone scan?
Q8520	–	Can radioactive thallium from stress test give me a headache?
Q8644	–	When can we conceive after husband has a heart scan?
Q8847	–	Will my baby have birth defects if I got pregnant after a scan with radioiodine?
Q8879	–	Restrictions for children after an adult nuclear medicine study
Q8917	–	Will my radioiodine dose affect my cats?
Q8924	–	Are there any precautions with children after a stress test with thallium?
Q9031	–	Precautions after an iodine-123 uptake scan
Q9143	–	Exams after a nuclear medicine study
Q9308	–	Dose to a caregiver from a PET scan
Q9351	–	Did exposure during lymphoscintigraphy affect my fetus?
Q9412	–	What happens to the technetium-99 in your body?
Q9484	–	Will an iodine-123 scan affect fertility?
Q9489	–	Are cardiac patients at higher risk for cancer from their imaging and treatment procedures?
Q9534	–	Short- and long-term effects of nuclear medicine study
Q10030	–	How long must a person wait between bone scans?
Q10056	–	Dose effects from thallium-201 stress test
Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine
Q712	–	Coworker undergoing thyroid treatment
Q846	–	Dose from iodine-131
Q1205	–	Rhenium-186 for pain palliation
Q1378	–	Use of radiation in medicine
Q1527	–	Tolerance dose to liver from iodine-131 lipiodol
Q1556	–	Family and iodine-131 dose
Q1753	–	Policy manual for iodine-131 therapy
Q1964	–	Iodine-131 treatment and risk
Q2450	–	Treatment for hyperthyroidism
Q2913	–	Beta radiations in medical applications
Q3717	–	Radioactive iodine in thyroid at airport
Q4091	–	Technologist exposure to yttrium-90 microspheres
Q4492	–	Dialysis patient and iodine-131
Q4507	–	Iodine-131 treatment and dialysis
Q5989	–	Treatment with iodine-131
Q6670	–	Family interactions during hyperthyroidism therapy
Q6752	–	Medical uses of radium-224
Q7138	–	Mother questions when to resume activities with children post-therapy
Q7143	–	Patient release criteria using RG8.39 and NCRP 155
Q7179	–	Fluid intake will reduce the dose to the bladder
Q7184	–	Mother of small child questions isolation
Q7392	–	Protecting cats from radioiodine
Q7631	–	Exposure to pets
Q7767	–	Is it okay to go to a hotel after iodine-131 therapy?
Q7785	–	Is there a risk having diagnostic exams after iodine-131 therapy?
Q7840	–	Did I expose my family to unnecessary radiation?
Q8053	–	Stand-alone nuclear medicine clinics
Q8224	–	Calculating doses for patient release after 131-iodine therapy
Q8271	–	Will my house retain radioactivity after a therapy dose?
Q8293	–	Fetal risks after iodine-131 therapy
Q8500	–	Post-therapy guidelines for family members seem contradictory
Q8549	–	Treatment of the liver with iodine-131 Lipiodol
Q8596	–	Will iodine-131 affect my septic tank?
Q8606	–	How many times can you treat with iodine-131?
Q8654	–	Precautions when husband gets therapy and wife is pregnant
Q8690	–	How do I keep the exposure to my children low after radioiodine therapy?
Q9026	–	Concerns after treatment with radioactive iodine
Q9091	–	How much radioiodine comes out in sweat?
Q9425	–	How do I protect my baby after iodine-131 therapy?
Q9577	–	How to handle a therapy patient with intensive nursing care concerns
Q9684	–	Is there a maximum lifetime dose for iodine-131 therapy?
Q9894	–	Septic tank change-out after iodine-131 therapy
Q9970	–	How long should I stay away from children after therapy with iodine-131.
Q10054	–	Did I expose my family to too much radiation after my radioiodine therapy?
PET
Q1567	–	Gamma factor for fluorine-18
Q4929	–	Incidental dose from PET/CT
Q6774	–	Sat next to PET patient
Q6975	–	Concern about exposure from friend after PET scan
Q8372	–	Visitor's PET scan and my child
Q8936	–	Is the PET bathroom at a hospital a hazard?
Miscellaneous
Q7991	–	MRIs and CT scans do not involve the use of radioactive drugs
Q8244	–	What is the risk of other cancers after thyroid cancer?
Q8409	–	When is the best time to perform a thyroid bioassay?
Q9698	–	Is it safe to be a nuclear medicine technologist?