Answer to Question #8924 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Nuclear Medicine Patient Issues — Diagnostic Nuclear Medicine

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

Q

I am a mother and had a nuclear stress test with thallium-201 administered. What precautions should be taken with the care of my four-month-old baby and my two-and-a-half-year-old child?

A

The only consideration would be breast-feeding, as thallium-201 is secreted into breast milk. Assuming that you received 3 millicuries of thallium-201 for your cardiac study (a typical dose), you should hold off breast-feeding for at least two hours to keep the baby's dose below regulatory limits. If you avoid breast-feeding for longer times (24 or 48 hours), the radiation absorbed dose to your baby is lower, but the doses we are talking about are so low that it is questionable that this is a benefit.
 

This information comes from measurements made with the breast milk of one nursing mother and published in the article "Radiation Dose from Breastfeeding Following Administration of Thallium-201," written by R. Eugene Johnston, Suresh K. Mukherji, J. Randolph Perry, and Michael G. Stabin. This article was published in the 1996 Journal of Nuclear Medicine, volume 37, pages 2079–2082.

Carol S. Marcus, PhD, MD

 

Ask the Experts is posting answers using only SI (the International System of Units) in accordance with international practice. To convert these to traditional units we have prepared a conversion table. You can also view a diagram to help put the radiation information presented in this question and answer in perspective. Explanations of radiation terms can be found here.
Answer posted on 16 March 2010. The information posted on this web page is intended as general reference information only. Specific facts and circumstances may affect the applicability of concepts, materials, and information described herein. The information provided is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon in the absence of such professional advice. To the best of our knowledge, answers are correct at the time they are posted. Be advised that over time, requirements could change, new data could be made available, and Internet links could change, affecting the correctness of the answers. Answers are the professional opinions of the expert responding to each question; they do not necessarily represent the position of the Health Physics Society.