99mTc Radiopharmaceuticals - Article Example

Investigating 99mTc radiopharmaceuticals used for bone imaging Name Institution Introduction Technetium -99m radiopharmaceuticals have their applications in the dynamic and morphological imaging of various body organs, in order to help diagnose some diseases that have since crept into the human body. An estimate of the use of this single isotope shows that close to 25 million diagnostic investigations done in the medical field on patients annually are based on 99mTc radiopharmaceuticals. Its application is in renal, hepatic, hepatobiliary, cardiac, oncological and bone diseases, as well as in other well-entrenched pathologies. Research has it that successful patient management in the above areas will highly depend on the Technetium -99 radiopharmaceuticals (Mettler & Guiberteau , 2011) Technetium -99m is a metastable nuclear isomer of technetium -99. That is to say Technetium -99m is an isotope of technetium. It is a radioactive tracer and can be detected in the body of a patient by medical equipment that is offered by the technology today such as gamma cameras. This is possible as 99mTC readily emits detectable gamma rays with a photon energy of 140kev. Detecting such radiations by the medical equipment is easy and possible since the very equipment also produces emissions of same characteristics. The half-life of Technetium -99m is approximately 6 hours with a biological half-life of one day, this allows for medical scanning procedures which collect data easily and rapidly while ensuring that the patient’s exposure to radiation is low. This makes it very suitable for diagnostic use but never recommended for therapeutic use (Moreno et at,2007). The parent nuclide of Tc-99 and Mo-99 mainly is gotten for medical use from the fission of products created in neutron- irradiated U-235 targets, produced in about five research reactors across the world. This is done using highly enriched Uranium mainly, however, poorly enriched uranium might also be used (Tuch et al, 2013) Nuclear bone scan shows the type of injury that a given section or type of bone has. It also shows the type of disease that is affecting the bone such as tumors. It should also be noted that nuclear bone scan can also show whether there has been an improvement on the section of a bone after treatment or deterioration on the same. A radionuclide is injected into the veins that are attached to the bones; then it is monitored by gamma cameras as it takes images or pictures of how the activities are going on within the bone tissues (Moreno et at,2007). Malignant Pathologies of the Bone Malignant pathologies are done on the bone as a result of tumors that result from cancer but not Benign. There are various cancers that are either primary or secondary that causes malignant bone tumors. Primary bone cancers are those that originate from the abnormal cell division within the bone structures while secondary bone cancers result from other tissue cancer such as cancer of the kidney, liver, heart, and lungs, as well as the cancer of the blood. However, it should be realized that the primary bone cancers are usually rare as research as it that they account for only about 1 % of the bone cancers (Mettler & Guiberteau , 2011). Types of primary bone cancers include; Osteosarcoma. Ewing Sarcoma Family of Tumors, Multiple Myeloma, and Chondrosarcoma. Multiple Myeloma is usually common in the older people, and it shows up in the bone marrows. Moreover, it should be noted that Chondrosarcoma normally develops in the shoulders, pelvis, and hips. Additionally, it is common in the middle-aged and the older people in the society. (Moreno et at,2007) Osteosarcoma Osteosarcoma is also known as Osteogenic Sarcoma. This type of bone disease is common in children and adolescent whose cells are still actively dividing hence there bones are growing. It is the second most common bone cancer in the world and usually develops around the hip, shoulder, and knees. It grows rapidly and spreads to other parts of the body.It should be noted that being that it is a disease that affects still growing bones, thus is very common in actively growing bones ( growth plates), and lower ends of thigh bones and upper ends of leg bones. In short, it usually affects femur, tibia, and humerus (Moreno et at,2007). The disease is common more in boys than girls. It is also noted that children who are taller and on people of African-American are also victims. Moreover, the average age of diagnosis is 15 years; this is due to the rapid growth witnessed during this age. Additionally, people who have undergone radiation for cancer treatments are at risk as people with a family history of cancer such as retinoblastoma (Mettler & Guiberteau , 2011). The symptoms of the Osteosarcoma varies depending on the location on the body (Moreno et at,2007). However, general symptoms include; bone fractures, pain while walking, sitting or while lifting objects, limping, swelling on the affected areas, redness on the affected areas and limited in joint motions. The pain can be normal or severe that denies sleep all night, and sometimes it might mimic the normal pain witnessed when the bones are growing. However, that of the bone growth stops in early teenage.Moreover, the paining limb should be examined, if the muscles on the affected side are smaller than of the opposite limb, then caution should be taken. Osteosarcoma can be treated by chemotherapy which involves the use of drugs that shrink and kill the cancerous cells ( Eggert et al, 2010). Surgery could be done to save the affected limb if the effect persisted. Moreover, after surgery, chemotherapy is again done on the operated part. After all, these steps recurrence can be done to help do a follow up on the progress of the treatment. Care should be taken because just like other types of cancers the causes are not well defined. Gene mutation, radiation exposure, and family trait inheritance is thought to be some of its causes. The prevention involves early detection and avoiding unnecessary radiations or scans. Ewing Sarcoma Family of Tumors Ewing Sarcoma Family of Tumors (ESFTs ) affects adolescents and young adults and though rare but sometimes affects children as young as five years old ( Eggert et al, 2010). But is more common in boys than girls. ESFTs begins in the cavities of the bones where the marrow is produced (Medullary cavities) Can also grow in soft tissues such blood vessels, fat and muscles then spread to other body parts. It affects long bones such as legs, pelvis, backbone, ribs, upper arms, and skull. ESFTs spreads rapidly, and care should be taken to limit that. The symptoms of ESFTs are swelling around the tumor area, which sometimes is accompanied by reddish skin and pain in the affected areas. Some patients experience fatigue, fever, and unexpected body weight loss while some may even lose their appetite. When the tumor affects the backbone lose bowel or bladder may be witnessed. Sometimes the tumor may also block the nerve pathways and as a result numbness and tingling are experienced. Sometimes ESFTs may also lead to paralysis when the spine is affected. And as normal to any bone cancer fracture may occur. And it should be noted that the symptoms may vary and care should be greatly taken ( Eggert et al, 2010) EFSTs have no known causes since it is a primary bone tumor. However, a gene mutation can be used to explain its cause. The theory of family inherited traits can also explain the same. Moreover, scholars argue that it is likely to be caused by rapid growth and that too explains why mainly affects the teenagers and young adults who are rapidly developing in the body. Additionally, the risk factors leading to the attack of Ewing Sarcoma Family of Tumors is unknown though gender, age, and race may be proposed as risk factors as it mainly affects boys also at a particular age. The above disease is not inherited or transmitted to anyone ( Moreno et at,2007)  Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Bone Scans The advantages of using bone scans are great. The radionuclide is injected into the veins that are attached to the bones, and it is given enough time to move into the bone tissues and helps in taking images by the help gamma cameras aided by the gamma radiations produced by the radionuclide. The bone scan is becoming a necessity as it offers a follow up to evaluate the source of bone pain and to find out the result of other imaging techniques ( Moreno et at,2007) The bone scan helps find fractures or stress fractures and even shin splints that are not easy to be found using other techniques such as MRI or X-rays (Moreno et at,2007). The infections of the bone (Osteomyelitis), cellulitis or the assessing the response to treatment that had been given can only be easily and adequately evaluated through the radionuclide scans. Moreover, it should be understood that arthritis, Paget’s disease, fractures from osteoporosis can be examined for the excellent result using bone scans. Furthermore, monitoring of the spread of cancer within the bone and consequent treatment monitoring is only possible through bone scans. Unlike an x-ray, the bone scan does not expose the patients to too much radiation as a small amount of radionuclide is used and for a short period. Additionally, the bone scan has no preparation required before the scan as only being calm and giving time for capturing of perfect images is required.However, the bone scan is relatively expensive as compared to CT scan and it is not to be used on small children. Moreover, lactating mothers and expectant mothers can never use it as the gamma radiations may affect the breast feeding baby or the embryo ( Moreno et at,2007) References Tuch, D., Collier, N., Vyas, K., & Morrison, E. (2013). U.S. Patent Application No. 14/419,193. Eggert, L. A., Dick, M. D., Mahoney, D. W., Olson, J. P., Werner, G. L., & Hung, J. C. (2010). A rapid radiochemical purity testing method for 99mTc-tetrofosmin. Journal of nuclear medicine technology, 38(2), 81-84. Moreno, S. R. F., Carvalho, J. J., Nascimento, A. L., Pereira, M., Rocha, E. K., Olej, B., ... & Bernardo- Filho, M. (2007). Experimental model to assess possible medicinal herb interaction with a radiobiocomplex: Qualitative and quantitative analysis of kidney, liver and duodenum isolated from treated rats. Food and chemical toxicology, 45(1), 19-23. Mettler, F. A., & Guiberteau, M. J. (2011). Essentials of Nuclear Medicine Imaging E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences. Read More