Isotope shortage leads to delayed medical scans
Published Wednesday December 17th, 2008
Health care | Ont. reactor shutdown means fewer radioactive samples were available for imaging procedures
Several nuclear-medicine scan procedures will be rescheduled for next week after local health facilities received a slightly reduced supply of radioactive isotopes.
Betty LeBlanc, regional director of diagnostic imaging services for the local health authority, said that means several patients will have their procedures postponed.
"We didn't get our usual supply, so we won't have a full complement of patients," she said.
LeBlanc said the delays won't have any impact on patient care.
"We prioritized the patients and brought the most acute, urgent patients forward," she said.
The patients who can wait will get their procedures next week, LeBlanc said.
A reduced shipment of radioactive isotopes makes it impossible to perform a full week's worth of nuclear medicine scans, she said.
But LeBlanc said the region expects to return to its regular schedule in a few days.
"We'll be back to normal next week," she said.
A nuclear-medicine scan helps doctors get a better look at a portion of a patient's body.
The patient is given a small dose of radioactive isotopes orally or through an injection, and that element allows a special camera to generate a high-quality image or measure functionality.
These procedures help doctors diagnose illness more effectively.
A shortage of the needed isotopes occurred last year after the aging nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ont. was temporarily closed for maintenance.
The federal government ordered the facility to be re-opened against the advice of Canada's nuclear safety commission.
That facility was recently down for 6 1/2 days for maintenance - almost two days longer than had been scheduled.
Several reactors in Europe have also experienced shutdowns in recent days.
Dr. Christopher O'Brien, president of the Ontario Association of Nuclear Medicine and medical director of nuclear medicine at Brantford General Hospital, said Chalk River is now back in full production.
O'Brien said the global medical community has to consider the impact these closures can have on the world's supply of isotopes.
"This is good news now, but this also reflects things to come," he said.
"There is no replacement for Chalk River, and if it goes down for any specific period of time, we will be in dire straits."
With files from The Canadian Press
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