Nuclear Medicine for Disease Treatment: A Growing Awareness in Vietnam
Bà T.T.Kh., a 54-year-old Vietnamese expatriate living in the United States, returned to Vietnam to visit her family. She suffers from chronic hepatitis C and has been following her doctor’s treatment plan. Six months ago, she began experiencing fatigue, rapid heart rate, and anxiety. Upon examination, she was diagnosed with another condition: hyperthyroidism (Graves’ disease). At this point, her mental state deteriorated, and her health significantly declined. She wanted to return to America for treatment but was not permitted to board the plane by the airline.
In this case, traditional treatments using standard antithyroid medications could have rapidly damaged her liver, while not treating her condition would exacerbate her arrhythmia, anxiety, and shortness of breath.
Ultimately, the physicians decided to utilize nuclear medicine for her treatment. She was administered a single dose of Iodine-131.
Six months after the treatment, she reported: “I was very worried initially about whether this technique would cure my illness and if it would affect my health. After taking the medication, I felt no discomfort at all, my health gradually improved, my heart rate stabilized, and I no longer experienced anxiety and fatigue like before. I returned here for a follow-up and blood tests, and the results showed that my condition was completely cured, and the tumor had disappeared.”
Nuclear medicine techniques for diagnosis and treatment have been in practice for about 60 years worldwide. Currently, there are approximately 12 facilities in Vietnam applying this technology in the medical field. In Ho Chi Minh City, there are three centers: FV Hospital, Cho Ray Hospital, and University Medical Center. Dr. Nguyễn Văn Tế, Head of the Nuclear Medicine Department at FV Hospital, stated…
Radioactive Materials: Life-Saving Medicines
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| Application of nuclear medicine techniques for disease treatment at the hospital. |
Nuclear medicine is a branch of medicine that uses artificial radioactive isotopes to conduct functional imaging of organs in the body, such as the thyroid, heart, bones, lungs, and kidneys, known as scintigraphy. It can also use radioactive substances for treatment.
This technique allows for the assessment of organ function, early detection of lesions—something that other diagnostic methods cannot achieve, such as investigating the metastasis of bone cancer.
Before imaging, a technician will inject a radioactive isotope into the patient’s vein, then use a gamma camera to capture images for functional diagnosis of the organs. Depending on the case, the same radioactive isotope may be used for treatment.
The injection of the radioactive isotope into the vein is done 20 minutes to 6 hours before imaging, and sometimes imaging can occur immediately after the injection depending on the organ being examined. During imaging, the machine will accurately measure the uptake of the radioactive isotope, which informs the functional status of the organ for appropriate treatment planning.
Is the radioactive substance harmful to patients?
The radioactive substance used in medicine does not harm patient health because the doses used are very low, with low-energy gamma rays that are insufficient to cause toxicity, reactions, or allergies in users.
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TREATMENT OF GRAVES’ DISEASE WITH RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES Hyperthyroidism, also known as toxic goiter or Graves’ disease, occurs when the thyroid gland is overactive. If not treated promptly, it can lead to serious complications, including arrhythmias and heart failure, which can be fatal. Currently, the preferred treatment method for Graves’ disease in Western countries is nuclear medicine. Treating toxic goiter with this technique allows patients to avoid hospitalization. They simply need to take a single dose of Iodine-131 in capsule or liquid form. After ingestion, patients can return home immediately, drink plenty of water, and resume normal eating after 2 hours. In most cases, a single treatment is sufficient for recovery. The cost for one treatment of goiter is approximately 3 million VND. |
* What diseases is nuclear medicine currently applied to diagnose and treat in Vietnam?– Diagnosis: Function of each kidney, locating pulmonary embolism, pinpointing neuroendocrine tumors such as pheochromocytoma, neuroblastoma, and their metastatic sites. For bone diseases, this technique sensitively reflects the bone’s response to pathology, detecting primary or secondary lesions, infections, sports injuries, bone necrosis, or painful dystrophy.
This technique allows for clear visualization of bone lesions months before they can be seen on X-rays. For bone scintigraphy, a phosphonate labeled with technetium is injected into the patient’s vein. In some cases, imaging can occur right after the injection, but typically about 3 hours later, when the radioactive marker binds to the bone, imaging can then proceed. Imaging duration ranges from 5 to 16 minutes or longer, depending on the case.
– In cardiac scintigraphy: it helps detect and locate conditions of myocardial ischemia in patients with angina, residual ischemia after exertion following a heart attack, monitoring a known coronary lesion, and assessing myocardial viability post-infarction, especially in patients with diabetes complications.
– Thyroid scintigraphy: provides images reflecting the metabolic status of iodine in thyroid cells, assisting specialists in determining appropriate treatment regimens for cases of hyperthyroidism or thyroid nodules.
– Treatment: This technique is currently very effective for treating thyroid disorders such as toxic goiter, thyroid cancer, adrenal medullary tumors, and pain management in bone metastases resistant to conventional analgesic therapy.
* Who are contraindicated for this procedure? Scintigraphy should not be performed on pregnant women. The radioactive substance will be excreted through breast milk; therefore, breastfeeding mothers must cease nursing for 48 hours after the imaging procedure.
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