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Abstract
This investigation proposes a protocol for planning of thyroid ablation therapy for individual patients, based on individual patient metabolic data and measured thyroid remnant masses. Using SPECT, I-131 uptake and clearance was studied in 9 patients who had undergone thyroidectomies, and the optimum activity for their therapy was calculated and compared to the established fixed activity of 3.7 GBq (100 mCi), which normally would have been assigned. It was observed that 7 of the patients could have received reduced activities of 131I (from 0.8-3.2 GBq (20-87 mCi)). In addition, 3 patients could have received low enough activities to have been discharged from the hospital. To facilitate the calculations of the optimum therapeutic activity of 131I for individual patients, a computer program was created (PlanDose). This protocol of calculated optimal patient-specific 131I activities allows a better determination of the necessary ablative dose for patients with differentiated carcinoma of the thyroid, and is an important example of optimization of the practice of radiation protection.
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