Citation:
A. Hargraves, K. Cook, C. Marianno, and V. Sridhar, “Case Report: PET Imaging of Dog Exposed to Artificially Created Search and Rescue Set-up Contaminated with FDG”, Open Journal of Clinical and Medical Case Reports, 5, 14 (2019).
Abstract:
Environmental contamination with radioactive material can lead to internal radioactive contamination, which occurs when radioactive material is taken into the body through inhalation, ingestion, and/or transfer through the skin. Urban search and rescue dogs (USAR) used as part of an emergency response team may be susceptible to internal radioactive material contamination under such working conditions. The exact routes and bio-distribution of such internal radioactive contamination within the body as well as the risks posed to these dogs have not been studied in depth. This research describes the purposeful exposure and examination of a canine to a radioactive contaminated environment. A scene was created to replicate arnpost-disaster scenario followed by introduction of the dog to the scene. After exposure to the contaminated environment, the canine was then imaged using PET/CT to quantify internal and external contaminationrnon and within the body. Radioactivity was mainly external, limited to the paws as well as around the mouth, esophagus, and stomach due to ingestion. There was minimal or no radioactivity associated with inhalation. Since this study includes only a single test subject, further studies with large sample size would be needed to validate these results as well as test environments with higher concentrations of radioactive material, and include the use of different long and short-acting radioisotopes.