The Group held its most recent meeting at the offices of the IPEM in York. Ironically, this took place on the day that rumours emerged of a mystery bidder for Amersham, later identified as GE. Items of general interest are summarised below.
VirRAD The Virtual Radiopharmacy education project has "gone live". Prof Steve Mather gave an on-line presentation to the committee. Everyone in the community is now invited to join in. Those who are in the RADPHARM yahoogroup will have receive this information directly and as we go to press there are already 130 members. For others, please have a look at http://community.virrad.eu.org . In order to fully access the site you need to register.
Radiopharmacy Workshop 2004 The Bournville workshop is set for Friday 9th January 2004. The topic will be pharmaceutical care and radionuclide therapy. Details have been sent out recently and registrations are being accepted. Information is available from Paul Maltby paul.maltby@rlbuht.nhs.uk.
BNMS Congress 2004 The BNMS meeting returns to the seaside at Brighton next year and is scheduled for 31st March to 2nd April. The Radiopharmacy Group will run an interactive session as these always prove to be popular.
Radiopharmacy Software We have been informed that Atalanta Consulting no longer intends to develop radiopharmacy computer software for the UK market in the near future. Veenstra (through Bright Technologies) will have a package ready for evaluation soon.
Chromium-51 EDTA For some time there has been discussion of benzyl alcohol as preservative in one manufacturer's formulation of 51Cr-EDTA. There are concerns both about the effectiveness of benzyl alcohol as a preservative in multidose vials and the potential toxicity of benzyl alcohol in neonates. The UKRG is assembling data and intends to provide guidance to the British nuclear medicine community as a companion to the methodology document produced by the physicists, a draft version of which is available on the BNMS web site (members area). It should be noted that 99mTc-DTPA produces equivalent results to 51Cr-EDTA, though with greater expediency required in counting the blood samples and the inability to measure GFR on the same day as a 99mTc-DMSA study.
Unlicenced Products Some trusts are becoming increasingly restrictive in the use of unlicenced drugs, such as intrinsic factor for Schilling tests, 14C-urea for breath tests, and tropolone for 111In cell labelling. Even the humble egg (for gastric and oesophageal studies) has come under scrutiny. The group would like to assess the extent of this problem. Could you please e-mail your experience to the editor ( james.ballinger@gstt.nhs.uk) who will compile an anonymous tabulation for discussion at our January meeting.
Problems Associated with Radiopharmaceuticals The latest quarterly report should be included with this Newsletter. Once again there are a number of reports of problems with the new 99Mo/99mTc generator. The compilation for 2001 has appeared in the October issue of the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Registration of Radiopharmacy Technologists With the upcoming requirement for state registration of all professionals within the NHS, the BNMS is encouraging all technologists, whether in imaging or radiopharmacy, to register with IPEM (www.ipem.org.uk). Time is of the essence as this voluntary register may close in December. Alternatively, pharmacy technicians will be able to register with the Pharmaceutical Society, which may be more appropriate than IPEM for those who may in the future wish to return to mainstream pharmacy.
EANM Guidelines on Radiopharmacy The draft guidelines on radiopharmacy (including PET) prepared by the Committee on Radiopharmacy of the EANM, which were discussed at the Innsbruck meeting, are published in the blue pages of the August issue of the EJNM.
Myocardial Perfusion Imaging The National Institute for Clincal Excellence (NICE) has issued an interim report on myocardial perfusion imaging which recognises a need for significant expansion (perhaps three-fold) in capacity for provision of this test.
CONGRATULATIONS! Professor Malcolm Frier of Nottingham, past chair of the UKRG, was presented with the Norman Veall award by Dr Mary Prescott, chair of the BNMS, at the Manchester meeting.
Note from the Editor The Editor, Jim Ballinger, can be reached in care of Nuclear Medicine, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RT, phone 020 7955 5000 ext 5644 or 020 7955 4595, fax 020 7955 2802, e-mail: james.ballinger@gstt.nhs.uk. The editor apologises for the larger than usual number of typo's in the last newsletter, which can only be put down to the extreme heat in the editorial portocabin.