Internal dose assessment of lymphoma ¹⁸F-FDG Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the internal radiation exposure of patients who have undergone a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan using 18F-FDG radiopharmaceutical. A total of 24 patients (8 men, 16 women, with an average age of 43.88 ± 18.57 years and weight of 57.54 ± 13.04 kg) who had been diagnosed with lymphoma were administered with 300.80 ± 23.09 MBq of 18F-FDG for a PET scan of the whole body. The IDAC-Dose 2.1 program, developed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), was used to measure absorbed and effective doses. The organs selected for absorbed dose analysis were the breast, kidneys, adrenals, liver, and brain, with the brain receiving the highest absorbed dose and the breast receiving the lowest absorbed dose. The effective dose for all patients was 4.85 ± 0.37 mSv, and the ratio of the effective dose to the administered activity was 1.611 × 10−2 mSv/MBq. The safety of the current practice using 18F-FDG PET scan was ascertained, given that the ratio of effective dose to administered activity was lower than 1.9 x 10−2 mSv/MBq.