Radiation dose and risk of patients through nuclear medical procedures in the GDR. A comparison of 1978 and 1981.

For the years 1978 and 1981 we compared the radiation dose for the patients examined by in vivo methods after administration of radiopharmaceuticals (27 procedures). The somatic effective dose equivalent, the effective collective dose, the somatic radiation risk, and the number of induced malignancies were calculated according to ICRP publication No. 26. All the procedures give rise to a radiation-induced somatic risk from the 4th up the 7th order. In recent years we have seen an increase of the application of 99mTc compounds and a decrease in the use of 131I-sodium iodide. A comparison of the results for the two years shows the expected reduction of radiation dose and risk.