Triggering radiation alarms after radioiodine treatment

Increasing numbers of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures involving radioisotopes are being conducted.The most common procedures include thallium scans for myocardial perfusion, ventilation perfusion lung scans, bone scans, iodine uptake scans, and radioactive iodine as treatment for thyroid disorders.For thyrotoxicosis, for example, 10 000 patients received radioactive iodine ( 131 I) treatment in one year in the United Kingdom alone. 1 Such procedures make patients temporarily radioactive and can be an important cause of false alarms at airports by activating radiation detectors.Doctors show a worrying lack of awareness about such potential problems.As a result, patients receiving radioactive isotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes are not adequately warned about persisting radioactivity and precautions that need to be taken.2 We report a case that further highlights this problem.