Personnel real time dosimetry in interventional radiology.

Interventional radiology and hemodynamic procedures have rapidly grown in number in the past decade, increasing the importance of personnel dosimetry not only for patients but also for medical staff. The optimization of the absorbed dose during operations is one of the goals that fostered the development of real-time dosimetric systems. Indeed, introducing proper procedure optimization, like correlating dose rate measurements with medical staff position inside the operating room, the absorbed dose could be reduced.

Predictors of in-hospital mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention for cardiogenic shock.

Objectives: The mortality of patients with cardiogenic shock (CS) complicating ST elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains high, despite early revascularization. Current knowledge of predictors of death is limited.

Background: The pathophysiologic understanding of CS after acute myocardial infarction has shifted from a mere hemodynamic disorder to a more complex approach including imbalance in metabolic functions.

Usefulness of dobutamine Tc-99m sestamibi-gated single-photon emission computed tomography for prediction of left ventricular ejection fraction outcome after coronary revascularization for ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Gated single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging allows analysis of myocardial perfusion and assessment of baseline global and regional left ventricular (LV) function and their changes during low-dose dobutamine infusion. The study examined whether the changes in LV ejection fraction induced by dobutamine and evaluated using technetium-99m sestamibi- gated SPECT predict the evolution of ejection fraction after revascularization in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Thirty-seven patients underwent resting and dobutamine nitrate-enhanced sestamibi-gated SPECT before revascularization and baseline-resting sestamibi gated SPECT after intervention to assess global functional changes.

Uptake of radiocesium by mushrooms.

After the Chernobyl accident in April 1986 the 134Cs, 137Cs and 40K activity of mushrooms of different genera and their corresponding soils from woods located in the province of Umbria (Italy) was determined. The results indicated: a temporally increasing trend for 137Cs up to a "limit value" depending on local fallout in 1986; different cesium concentrations in various mushroom genera; and uptake of potassium from soil that did not appear to compete with cesium uptake. No reliable correlation can be inferred between the cesium content of the soil and those of mushrooms.

Radioactivity from 137Cs in plant drugs and their preparations after Chernobyl.

The 137 Cs content was determined in 406 plant drug samples harvested in 1986 and 1987 after the Chernobyl accident and in their preparations. Very high values were found in drugs produced in Eastern Europe and in Italy. The decoctions contain about 80% of 137Cs present in the drugs.