Abstract

Nuclear medicine offers well-established methods for regional lung function assessment in the preoperative evaluation of patients with lung disease. The perfusion study with Tc-99m macroaggregates is simple and can be performed without special precautions in radiation shielding. The ventilation study with Xe-133, however, requires more elaborate apparatus as well as special procedures to collect the exhaled radioactive rare gas. Nuclear medicine departments with access to short-lived radionuclides from a nearby cyclotron can use the krypton isotope Kr-81m. The physical half-life of Kr-81m is 13 s. Its gamma energy of 190 keV is optimal for gamma cameras. Kr-81m can be used as a medical isotope in spite of its short half-life. It can be eluted with a continuously flowing gas from the generator containing the mother nuclide Rb-81 which has half-life of 4.6 h. This short half-life not only simplifies radiation protection but allows repeated studies in different projections as well. Examples of comparative studies with Xe-133 and Kr-81m are presented. The importance of taking not only anterior and posterior pictures but also lateral oblique views is stressed.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call