Efforts in the Formation and Development of Nuclear Medicine in Vietnam / 대한핵의학회잡지

The foundations of nuclear medicine in Vietnam were established from 1970. Until now, after 48 years of development, in Vietnam, we have some basic equipment including 31 SPECT, 4 SPECT/CT machines, 11 PET/CT scanners, five cyclotrons, and one nuclear reactor.Many nuclearmedicine techniques in diagnosis and treatment have been routinely performed at provincial and central level health facilities such as tumor scintigraphy, thyroid scintigraphy, bone scintigraphy, kidney scintigraphy, cardiac scintigraphy, and radio-isotope therapy with I-131 and P-32. Selective internal radiation therapy with Y-90 microsphere and I-125 radioactive seed implantation has been also successfully applied in some big hospitals. However, there are still many difficulties for Vietnam as the lack of new widely used radioisotopes such as Ga-67, Cu-64, Samarium-153, and Lutetium-177 and the lack of nuclear medicine specialists. In the future, we are putting our efforts on the applications of new isotopes in diagnosis and treatment of cancers (theranostic) like Ga-68-DOTATATE, Lutetium-177-DOTATATE, Ga-68-PSMA, and Lutetium-177-PSMA, equipping modern nuclear medicine diagnostic tools, strengthening the human resources training in nuclear medicine. At the same time, we are trying our best to strengthen the cooperation with international nuclear medicine societies in over the world.

Efforts in the Formation and Development of Nuclear Medicine in Vietnam / 대한핵의학회잡지

The foundations of nuclear medicine in Vietnam were established from 1970. Until now, after 48 years of development, in Vietnam, we have some basic equipment including 31 SPECT, 4 SPECT/CT machines, 11 PET/CT scanners, five cyclotrons, and one nuclear reactor.Many nuclearmedicine techniques in diagnosis and treatment have been routinely performed at provincial and central level health facilities such as tumor scintigraphy, thyroid scintigraphy, bone scintigraphy, kidney scintigraphy, cardiac scintigraphy, and radio-isotope therapy with I-131 and P-32. Selective internal radiation therapy with Y-90 microsphere and I-125 radioactive seed implantation has been also successfully applied in some big hospitals. However, there are still many difficulties for Vietnam as the lack of new widely used radioisotopes such as Ga-67, Cu-64, Samarium-153, and Lutetium-177 and the lack of nuclear medicine specialists. In the future, we are putting our efforts on the applications of new isotopes in diagnosis and treatment of cancers (theranostic) like Ga-68-DOTATATE, Lutetium-177-DOTATATE, Ga-68-PSMA, and Lutetium-177-PSMA, equipping modern nuclear medicine diagnostic tools, strengthening the human resources training in nuclear medicine. At the same time, we are trying our best to strengthen the cooperation with international nuclear medicine societies in over the world.

The Effect of Intermittent Antenatal Iron Supplementation on Infant Outcomes in Rural Vietnam: A Cluster Randomized Trial.

Objectives: Intermittent antenatal iron supplementation is an attractive alternative to daily dosing during pregnancy, however the impact of this strategy on infant outcomes remains unclear. We compared the effect of intermittent antenatal iron supplementation with daily iron supplementation on maternal and infant outcomes in rural Vietnam. Methods: This cluster randomised trial was conducted in Ha Nam province, Vietnam. 1,258 pregnant women in 104 communes were assigned to daily iron-folic acid (IFA), twice weekly IFA, or twice weekly multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementation. Primary outcome was birth weight. Results: There was no difference in birth weights of infants of women receiving twice weekly IFA compared to daily IFA (mean difference [MD] 28 g; 95% CI -22 to 78), or twice weekly MMN compared to daily IFA (MD -36.8 g; 95% CI -82 to 8.2). At 32 wk gestation, maternal ferritin was lower in women receiving twice weekly compared to daily IFA (geometric mean ratio (GMR) 0.73; 95% CI 0.67 to 0.80), and in women receiving twice weekly MMN compared to daily IFA (GMR 0.62; 95% CI 0.57 to 0.68), with no difference in hemoglobin levels. Infants of mothers who received twice weekly IFA had higher cognitive scores at 6 mo of age compared to those who received daily IFA (MD 1.89; 95% CI 0.23 to 3.56). Conclusions: Twice-weekly antenatal IFA supplementation achieved similar mean birthweight, and improved cognitive scores in infants at 6 months of age, compared to daily IFA supplementation, and should be considered for use in settings with low anemia prevalence.

The first poison control center in Vietnam: experiences of its initial years.

Poisoning is a sparsely studied but major health problem in Vietnam. In this hospital-based retrospective study, the medical records of all cases of poisoning admitted to the Poison Control Center in Hanoi from 1999 to 2003 were carefully reviewed. A total of 1,836 poisoning emergencies were recorded. The female:male ratio was approximately 1:1. The largest number of poisoned patients was found in the age-group 15-24 years. A vast majority of the toxic exposures (74.1%) occurred at the patients' homes. Suicidal poisoning constituted about one third of all cases. The most commonly involved toxic agents consisted of the heterogeneous group "food poisoning" (35.1%), pharmaceuticals (33.8%), toxins from poisonous animals, mostly snake bites (12.6%), and pesticides (9.1%). On admission, two thirds of the patients had mild symptoms (Poisoning Severity Score, PSS grade 1), while more than a quarter displayed pronounced clinical signs of poisoning (PSS grades 2-4). The most frequently used poisoning-specific treatments were gastric lavage (30.2%) and administration of activated charcoal (35.4%) and cathartics (34.2%). Intensive care measures, such as mechanical ventilation and dialysis, were applied less frequently, in 6.5% and 1.7%, respectively. Specific antidotes were given in 5.2% of the cases. The total number of fatalities was 21 (1.1%) and 10 patients were discharged with a neurological sequela. Hypnotic pharmaceuticals (mainly barbiturates), heroin, and pesticides were involved in a majority of the fatalities. These data provide an important basis for poisoning prevention efforts in developing countries\such as Vietnam.