Conversion factor and other variables in the indoor retrospective radon activity concentration studies.

Estimation of indoor retrospective radon activity concentration can be performed by measuring the 210Po surface activity concentration of the radon progeny on mirrors. The conversion factor between the surface activity concentration of 210Po on mirrors and the retrospective activity concentration of 222Rn in the air was determined. Several places and some variables have been considered. Exposures were performed in places with moderate and high concentrations of 222Rn. The repeatability of results has been investigated. The dependence of concentration on exposure time has been checked. The effect of cleaning the mirror surfaces has been analyzed. The experimental results obtained for the possible 210Pb-210Po equilibrium inside the mirrors have also been studied and compared with the theoretically expected values.

Role of 18F-Choline PET/CT in guiding biopsy in patients with risen PSA levels and previous negative biopsy for prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To study 18F-Choline PET/CT in the diagnosis and biopsy guide of prostate cancer (pCa) in patients with persistently high prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and previous negative prostate biopsy. To compare the clinical risk factors and metabolic variables as predictors of malignancy. METHODS: Patients with persistently elevated PSA in serum (total PSA >4ng/mL) and at least a previous negative or inconclusive biopsy were consecutively referred for a whole body 18F-Choline PET/CT. Patient age, PSA level, PSA doubling time (PSAdt) and PSA velocity (PSAvel) were obtained. PET images were visually (positive or negative) and semiquantitatively (SUVmax) reviewed. 18F-Choline uptake prostate patterns were defined as focal, multifocal, homogeneous or heterogeneous. Histology on biopsy using transrectal ultrasound-guided approach was the gold standard. Sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp) and accuracy (Ac) of PET/CT for diagnosis of pCa were evaluated using per-patient and per-prostate lobe analysis. Receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to assess the value of SUVmax to diagnose pCa. Correlation between PET/CT and biopsy results per-prostate lobe was assessed using the Chi-square test. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were applied to compare clinical risk factors and metabolic variables as predictors of malignancy. RESULTS: Thirty-six out of 43 patients with histologic confirmation were included. In 11 (30.5%) patients, pCa was diagnosed (Gleason score from 4 to 9). The mean values of patient age, PSA level, PSAdt and PSAvel were: 65.5 years, 15.6ng/ml, 28.1 months and 8.5ng/mL per year, respectively. Thirty-three patients had a positive PET/CT; 18 had a focal pattern, 7 multifocal, 4 homogeneous and 4 heterogeneous. Se, Sp and Ac of PET/CT were of 100%, 12% and 38% in the patient based analysis, and 87%, 29% and 14% in the prostate lobe based analysis, respectively. The ROC curve analysis of SUVmax showed an AUC of 0.568 (p=0.52). On a lobe analysis, poor agreement was observed between PET/CT findings and biopsy results (p=0.097). In the univariate/multivariate analysis, none of clinical and metabolic variables were statistically significant as predictor of pCa. CONCLUSION: Choline PET/CT is a suitable procedure for the detection of pCa in highly selected patients, however, a high rate of false positive should be expected.

Study about the radionuclides implanted on glass surfaces for the estimation of retrospective indoor radon concentrations.

Indoor radon retrospective dosimetry can be performed by measuring the 210Po activity concentration deposited on surfaces. An experimental study about the implantation of 210Po on mirrors exposed to radon has been performed. Two cases were studied: exposure to high and low 222Rn concentrations. Results were compared with those calculated by using the activity evolution equations. Experimental results can be only explained assuming additional deposition of the long-lived 222Rn descendants.

Measuring radon concentrations and estimating dose in tourist caves.

Caves and mines are considered to be places of especial risk of exposure to (222)Rn. This is particularly important for guides and workers, but also for visitors. In the Extremadura region (Spain), there are two cave systems in which there are workers carrying out their normal everyday tasks. In one, visits have been reduced to maintain the conditions of temperature and humidity. The other comprises several caves frequently visited by school groups. The caves were radiologically characterised in order to estimate the dose received by workers or possible hazards for visitors.

Radon in underground waters as a natural analogue to study the escape of CO2 in geological repositories.

Activity concentrations of dissolved (222)Rn and (226)Ra were measured in several underground aquifers, which are candidates for repositories or for the study of analogue natural escapes of CO2. The concentration of both radionuclides in water was determined using liquid scintillation counting. The values obtained for the (222)Rn concentrations varied from 0 to 150 Bq l(-1), while the levels of (226)Ra were in general very low. This indicates that (222)Rn is coming from the decay of the undissolved (226)Ra existing in the rocks and deep layers of the aquifers, being later transported by diffusion in water.

Diamond detector for alpha-particle spectrometry.

An artificially grown high purity diamond was used as a detector for alpha-particle spectrometry. Diamond detectors can match the performance of silicon detectors employed in standard continuous air monitoring systems. Its radiation hardness and electronic properties make them ideal to work under extreme condition such as high temperature and ambient lights. A 50 µm thickness single-crystal diamond detector has been compared with a 300 µm passivated implanted planar silicon detector, under ambient conditions.

Experimental studies about the ratio between 210Po deposited on surfaces and retrospective indoor 222Rn concentrations.

Measurements of radon concentration may not be sufficiently representative for the cumulative total exposure suffered by a person throughout his life. Retrospective dosimetry can help estimating from the direct measurement of 210Po (descendant of 222Rn) implanted on surfaces, because this quantity is related (through the conversion factor) with the mean indoor 222Rn concentration existing in a room for long time. This factor depends on multiple variables. Theoretical models can provide some values. Experiments are tedious and very time consuming. The 210Po activity concentration was measured in mirrors, which were previously exposed to 222Rn concentrations under real environmental conditions. This work deals with the preliminary results in two known places (a room and a cave), which have very different characteristics, in order to show experimentally the large differences found in the values of this factor.

On the use of different scintillation cocktails for determining gross alpha and beta activities in water samples.

Gross alpha and beta indices for water samples are generally measured in environmental radioactivity laboratories. Liquid scintillation spectrometers can be used to determine these indices but different factors could affect the measurements. Several scintillation cocktails and different radionuclides have been used for calibration. Quenching effects must be considered for each cocktail because the results can be different depending of the calibration and cocktail used.

Gross alpha and beta indices in water samples revisited.

Gross α and ß indices for water samples are generally determined simultaneously when a gas-flow proportional counter is used. The thickness of the source and the α-particle energy are factors of great importance due to self-absorption or energy loss effects. Two variables have been studied: the use of different salts to produce standards with several thicknesses and the use of different radionuclides for the calibration process. Samples of known activity were prepared and measured for checking the procedures.

Additional contamination when radon is in excess.

A study of the behavior of the (222)Rn progeny on clothes, skin and hair has been performed in a place with very high radon concentration. In the past, radon concentration was established to be about 32 kBq/m(3) in a very high humidity environment inside a tourist cave in Extremadura (Spain). The results show that (222)Rn daughters are adhered on clothes, skin and hair, adding some radioactive concentration to that due to radon and its progeny existing in the breathable air.

Determination of alpha activity in solid samples by leaching or digestion.

The analysis of solid environmental samples by α-particle spectrometry generally involves processes requiring an initial treatment to destroy the complexes in the matrix, and dissolve the radionuclides of interest. This study compared the activities obtained for several natural radionuclides ((238)U, (234)U, (230)Th, (226)Ra, and (210)Po) in previously well-characterized materials, using two procedures: acid leaching and digestion in a microwave oven. The measured activities were in general very similar for the two procedures, with a strong statistical correlation between the two sets of values.

Portable alpha spectrometer.

Many portable devices have been designed to detect γ-rays or alpha and beta particles. Most of the α-particle detectors give the total count as a result, without identifying the radionuclides existing in the sample. The development of a device allowing rapid and straightforward α-particle spectrometry would be very useful for detecting the radioactive contents of unknown samples. This work describes the construction of a portable device using silicon semiconductor detectors designed to rapidly detect and possibly identify alpha-emitting radionuclides.

SOLANG: A user-friendly code to calculate the geometry factor using Monte Carlo simulations. Application to alpha-particle spectrometry.

Monte Carlo simulation was applied to calculate the effective solid angle (or geometry factor) presented by a plane radioactive source at a detector entrance window. A fast and user-friendly computer program SOLANG was written to perform the calculations for disk or rectangular sources and circular non-coaxial detector disks. Results can be achieved with great precision, depending on the number of simulated trajectories. Some checks and applications to the calculation of efficiencies of semiconductor detectors and gas ionization chambers used to measure alpha particles are presented. Their results were very reliable. The code is available free of charge on request to the authors.

[Triple ureter in crossed renal ectopy: an embryologic rarity]. / Triplicidad ureteral en la ectopia renal cruzada: una rareza embriológica.

Presentation of one case of CRE (crossed renale ectopia) with triplicity (trifidity) of the ortho and ectopic collector systems, due to the existence in both cases of pyelourethral bifidity and a third cranial blind ureter. This case represents a casual finding during a routine study of a female patient with orthostatic and exertion urinary incontinence (EUI). The case idiosyncrasies, which initially elicited the possibility of urethral ectopia, are analyzed. Incidence and variants of this unusual congenital anomaly are commented upon.

[Renal hydatid cysts: our experience]. / Quistes hidatídicos renales: nuestra experiencia.

Retrospective review of r.h.c. (renal hydatid cysts) cases, since the opening of our hospital in March 1974 through December 1989. Four cases diagnosed with r.h.c., aged between 11 and 58 years, out of a total 15,700 patients seen in this centre throughout that time are presented. Emphasis is made on the rarity of this condition in spite of it being endemic in this area. The variety of its clinical forms together with the youth of two of the patients, have encouraged us to review, and make an in-depth reflection upon a subject about which there is an ever decreasing number of references to be found. We contribute the diagnostic value of the modern and highly demonstrative radiological image tests, echography and CAT.