Dept. of Nuclear Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
Method of thyroid dosimetry in patients treated with radioiodine (I-131) for thyrotoxicosis and differentiated thyroid cancer with remnant thyroid has been described. All possible measures were taken to ensure radiation safety of the patients during their treatment. Estimation of thyroid mass in patients with Graves’ disease and residual thyroid tissue in differentiated thyroid cancer patients after surgery was done by scintigraphic method (99mTcO4-SPECT). Effective half life and thyroid uptake were measured for estimating the dose to thyroid gland. The external and internal dose to relatives/attendants who came in close contact with these patients during the treatment was also measured. External exposure to the occupational staff was measured under a national personnel monitoring service by BARC, Mumbai. In addition we measured dose to the extremities (fingers) and internal dose, if any, to the thyroid of the staff handling I-131.
