Patient effective dose from sentinel lymph node lymphoscintigraphy in breast cancer: a study using a female humanoid phantom and thermoluminescent dosemeters.

The aim of this study was to measure the dose delivered to patients undergoing sentinel lymph node lymphoscintigraphy by taking into account both the transmission scan dose using a (57)Co flood source and the (99)Tc(m) internal emission dose. An adult female humanoid phantom and a set of thermoluminescent dosimeters were used in the measurements. The choice of measurement organs in the humanoid was guided by the recommendations described in the International Commission on Radiological Protection report number 60. A (57)Co flood source was used in external transmission to irradiate the humanoid at posterior, left lateral, left posterior oblique, right lateral and right posterior oblique positions. Four (99)Tc(m) deposits as internal emission sources were used to simulate patient peritumoural injection. The individual effective doses for external transmission and internal emission, normalized to the cumulated activity and expressed in micro Sv(MBq x h)(-1) were then calculated. The effective dose for a transmission scan was on average 0.061 micro Sv(MBq x h)(-1) for each (57)Co flood source position and for internal emission 0.312 micro Sv(MBq x h)(-1) and 0.291 micro Sv(MBq x h)(-1) for left and right breast injection, respectively. Using these results, the effective dose from both transmission and emission sources can be calculated according to the nuclear medicine scanning protocol and surgical procedure of the individual institution. For our protocols, the patient receives a maximum effective dose of 52 micro Sv for the 1 day protocol (18 MBq injection) and 204 micro Sv for the 2 day protocol (74 MBq injection) if only the sentinel lymph node is excised. If other tissues containing radioactivity are removed, the patient effective dose will be reduced by about 50% and 6%, respectively, for the 1 day protocol and 2 day protocol. Although the doses are low compared with other radiological examinations, the results are informative for patients concerned about radiation exposure for this new imaging technique.