skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Whole-remnant and maximum-voxel SPECT/CT dosimetry in {sup 131}I-NaI treatments of differentiated thyroid cancer

Journal Article · · Medical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4961742· OSTI ID:22689262
 [1];  [2]; ; ;  [3];  [4]
  1. Department of Medical Radiation Physics, Lund University, Lund 22185, Sweden and Department of Medical Physics, Gurutzeta/Cruces University Hospital, Barakaldo 48903 (Spain)
  2. Joint Department of Physics, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton SM2 5PT (United Kingdom)
  3. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Gurutzeta/Cruces University Hospital, Barakaldo 48903 (Spain)
  4. Department of Medical Radiation Physics, Lund University, Lund 22185 (Sweden)

Purpose: To investigate the possible differences between SPECT/CT based whole-remnant and maximum-voxel dosimetry in patients receiving radio-iodine ablation treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Methods: Eighteen DTC patients were administered 1.11 GBq of {sup 131}I-NaI after near-total thyroidectomy and rhTSH stimulation. Two patients had two remnants, so in total dosimetry was performed for 20 sites. Three SPECT/CT scans were performed for each patient at 1, 2, and 3–7 days after administration. The activity, the remnant mass, and the maximum-voxel activity were determined from these images and from a recovery-coefficient curve derived from experimental phantom measurements. The cumulated activity was estimated using trapezoidal-exponential integration. Finally, the absorbed dose was calculated using S-values for unit-density spheres in whole-remnant dosimetry and S-values for voxels in maximum-voxel dosimetry. Results: The mean absorbed dose obtained from whole-remnant dosimetry was 40 Gy (range 2–176 Gy) and from maximum-voxel dosimetry 34 Gy (range 2–145 Gy). For any given patient, the activity concentrations for each of the three time-points were approximately the same for the two methods. The effective half-lives varied (R = 0.865), mainly due to discrepancies in estimation of the longer effective half-lives. On average, absorbed doses obtained from whole-remnant dosimetry were 1.2 ± 0.2 (1 SD) higher than for maximum-voxel dosimetry, mainly due to differences in the S-values. The method-related differences were however small in comparison to the wide range of absorbed doses obtained in patients. Conclusions: Simple and consistent procedures for SPECT/CT based whole-volume and maximum-voxel dosimetry have been described, both based on experimentally determined recovery coefficients. Generally the results from the two approaches are consistent, although there is a small, systematic difference in the absorbed dose due to differences in the S-values, and some variability due to differences in the estimated effective half-lives, especially when the effective half-life is long. Irrespective of the method used, the patient absorbed doses obtained span over two orders of magnitude.

OSTI ID:
22689262
Journal Information:
Medical Physics, Vol. 43, Issue 10; Other Information: (c) 2016 American Association of Physicists in Medicine; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-2405
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English