Letter from the Editors

Article Outline

• Copyright

In our 37 year history, this and the following issue represent only the third time that we have devoted a full issue of Seminars in Nuclear Medicine to the role of radionuclide methodology in children.

In his introductory article, Dr Jim Conway points out that most of the subjects reviewed 35 years ago in the 1972 Seminars predated computed tomography and were subsequently replaced by it. There was a two decade hiatus before new applications justified another issue devoted to pediatric nuclear imaging. The areas addressed in the 1993 issues emphasized renal and bone imaging, which continue to account for the majority of studies performed in children throughout the world. It is noteworthy that, from the international data accumulated by Dr Conway, renal studies alone account for 29-90% of the procedures. It actually accounted for 49% or more of the total volume in 7 of the 10 centers surveyed (see Table 1 in the article by Dr Conway).

We are fortunate to have two very experienced internationally recognized colleagues describe the important role of scintigraphy in assessing renal disorders in children. Dr Amy Piepsz from Brussels, Belgium, deals with the common issue of hydronephrosis and reflux while Dr Monica Rossleigh from Sydney, Australia, concentrates on renal infection.

Applications in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract have always been a useful adjunct to anatomically based radiologic imaging. Dr James Warrington and Martin Charon review the spectrum of studies available, ranging from the tubular GI tract to the liver and biliary tract.

The use of radiopharmaceuticals such as radioiodinated MIBG and In-111 octreotide (Octreoscan) to examine neuroblastoma and other neuroendocrine tumors has been an area of great interest for Dr Rob Howman-Giles and his colleagues in Sydney. They provide us with a comprehensive review.

Finally, osteoporosis has become a subject of increasing concern in children. Bone density studies are utilized frequently in adults, but there have been problems trying to utilize adult normal values and standardization data when performing these studies in children. Dr Larry Binkovitz and colleagues from the Columbus, Ohio, Children’s Hospital have reviewed this subject in great depth and provide us with some insight into their many pertinent observations.

Additional subjects, such as positron emission tomography/computed tomography, bone, heart and lung, brain, thyroid cancer, and radiation exposure and dose reduction will be addressed in the next (September) issue.

In his nostalgic introductory chapter, Dr Jim Conway makes reference to the pediatric nuclear medicine network available on the Internet. This is an excellent way of obtaining instant consultation concerning problems that you may encounter in studying children in your department. There are 275 subscribers to this site; one of us (L.M.F.) is a subscriber and has sought opinions to several problems that have arisen in his practice. Within a couple of hours, national and international responses from many well-known, respected colleagues were available. It is a superb resource that we highly recommend. The site is available at: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pediatric_nuclearmed.