Herbert Klein MD, a nuclear medicine specialist, writes:

As the following item indicates, there is a shortage of technetium-99m, the basic radioisotope for bone scans, as well as heart scans,
kidney scans, etc: Isotope Crisis Threatens Medical Care

So far, in the nuclear medicine department where I practice, there have been no problems, but there might be in the days to come.

New research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center shows that Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is more accurate than conventional imaging in identifying patients who have good responses to chemotherapy and radiation treatment, a finding that could one day help some patients avoid surgery.

The results, from a study of 64 patients with esophageal cancer, are published in the April issue of Annals of Surgery. PET, a technology that produces images of the metabolic function of tissue, was used to test patients for cancer after treatment with a combination of chemotherapy and radiation (chemoradiation).

“While additional multi-center studies are needed, the research clearly shows that PET is a useful tool for identifying patients who respond well to chemoradiation,” said Edward A. Levine, M.D., lead investigator. “Being able to identify these responders may alter the need to take some patients to surgery.”