An anonymous inquirer asks: >>I am hoping that someone would share their policy/procedures on sentinel lymph nodes. In particular, documenting that all staff and couriers know that they may be exposed to low levels of radiation.<<
Sentinel lymph nodes, and the associated lumpectomy specimens, contain a small amount of radioactive material, technetium 99m sulfur colloid. Gamma emitter 99Tc has a half-life of only six hours, and exposes you to a negligible amount of radiation - you could eat the patient's entire dose and it wouldn't do you harm. The histotechnologist and the pathologist do not need any special precautions to handle this material - in particular, there's no need to delay processing it for several days. All of this has been pretty much standard procedure for a good many years. I've never seen any warning issued that the material is radioactive, and I've seen a considerable number of them in many institutions and in several US states. If you're dealing with a local bureaucratic requirement, you could challenge it. Bob Richmond Samurai Pathologist Maryville TN _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet