[Radiation exposure from nuclear medical procedures in the former DDR]

From 1978-1988 central records were kept of nuclear medical in vivo and in vitro examinations and of treatments with radiopharmaceuticals in the former GDR. On the basis of ICRP publications No 60 the effective dose, the collective effective dose, and the radiation risk were assessed. Twenty-six different nuclear medical examinations were used in the calculations. The most frequent examinations were thyroid scintigraphy with 99mTc-pertechnetate and renography with 131I-hippurate. 131I thyroid examinations decreased by a factor of 4 in the GDR during the period considered. Though the number of patients increased from 1978-1988 by about 55%, a continuous reduction of collective effective dose from 607 to 377 manSv could be achieved. The average effective dose was reduced from about 5.5 to 2.2 mSv. The radiation risk decreased by a factor of 2.5.