TY - JOUR T1 - Effect of Using Tungsten Apron for Occupational Radiation Exposure in Nurses during Care of <sup>131</sup>I-mIBG Therapy for Children with High-risk Neuroblastoma JF - Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO - J Nucl Med SP - 1365 LP - 1365 VL - 62 IS - supplement 1 AU - Hiroshi Wakabayashi AU - Yuka Taniguchi AU - Masako Yamada AU - Kei Morino AU - Akiko Otosaki AU - Anri Inaki AU - Daiki Kayano AU - Satoru Watanabe AU - Tomo Hiromasa AU - Hiroshi Mori AU - Takafumi Yamase AU - Yuji Kunita AU - Shintaro Saito AU - Seigo Kinuya Y1 - 2021/05/01 UR - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/62/supplement_1/1365.abstract N2 - 1365Purpose: 131I-meta-iodo-benzyl-guanidine (131I-mIBG) therapy has been used in children with high-risk neuroblastoma. In Japan, they are cared for by trained nurses in an isolation room. We previously reported the total (0.36 ± 0.18 mSv; range: 0.09-0.97 mSv) and daily (0.07 ± 0.05 mSv/d; range: 0.02-0.32 mSv/d) occupational radiation exposure to nurses per neuroblastoma patient care in the room using a commercial lead apron (Ann Nucl Med. 2020; 34: 441-447). Multiple nurses shared care for a patient to reduce the radiation exposure during patients’ stay in the isolation room, and individual occupational radiation exposure was well controlled. On the other hand, nurses who care for pediatric patients needing daily assistance, especially for younger children, had higher radiation exposure. The selection of efficient shielding materials for radiation protection is important to reduce occupational radiation exposure as much as we can. As an efficient material, a tungsten apron (Chiyoda Technol Co., Ltd.), used in nuclear power plants, is commercially available. We investigated the occupational radiation exposure in nurses wearing the tungsten apron during 131I-mIBG therapy. Methods: We assessed nurses’ occupational radiation exposure, who cared for children with neuroblastoma during 131I-mIBG therapy, by electronic pocket dosimeter (PDM-152, ALOKA Co., Ltd.) from 2018 November to March 2020. The daily percentage of total radiation exposure received was calculated using the formula: daily radiation exposure / total radiation dose × 100. We evaluated the level of assistance required to perform necessary daily activities in an isolated room, as reported previously (Ann Nucl Med. 2020; 34: 441-447). Children's self-care score was evaluated consisted of 10 items, divided into two dimensions: daily activities included nine items, and recognition of the treatment had one item (Table1). The total score ranges from 10 to 29. Results: Seven 131I-mIBG treatments (666 MBq/kg) were performed in neuroblastoma patients under 12 years old (M/F; 3/4, median age at 131I-mIBG treatment; 4 ± 3 years old), who were isolated for 4 ± 1 days. Average total and daily radiation exposure to nurses per patient care was 0.12 ± 0.07 mSv (range: 0.04 - 0.26 mSv) and 0.03 ± 0.03 mSv/d (range: 0.001 - 0.12 mSv/d), respectively. The daily percentage of total radiation exposure decreased in three days after 131I-mIBG treatment (day 0, 1, 2 and 3 was 32 ± 13 %, 28 ± 10 %, 24 ± 14 %, and 11 ± 5 %, respectively, Figure1), and the average self-care score was 16 ± 6 (range: 10 - 24) for all patients. Higher self-care score was significantly related to higher daily radiation exposure in nurses but not to younger patients’ age. Conclusions: Individual occupational radiation exposure was very well controlled using the tungsten apron with a high shielding effect. We would like to search for possible care while considering the distance and time from the children, and lead to better nursing care in 131I-mIBG treatment. ER -