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Current trends in pediatric nuclear medicine: a Society for Pediatric Radiology membership survey

Pediatric Radiology volume 50, pages 1139–1147 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Pediatric nuclear medicine is evolving, and its practice patterns are uncertain. Knowledge of the current trends in pediatric nuclear medicine might be helpful to direct local decisions, including expectations for patient care, needs for capital acquisitions, and staffing recruitment strategies.

Objective

To provide data regarding the current practice of pediatric nuclear medicine via a Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) membership survey.

Materials and methods

The SPR emailed our 25-question survey to all 1,847 SPR members in August 2018 and we accepted responses until April 2019. Questions focused on nuclear medicine staffing, positron emission tomography (PET) utilization, and radiotherapy availability. Respondents could indicate their affiliated hospital, which we used for data cataloguing only. Analysis of survey responses was blinded to reported institution. We analyzed response data using contingency tables. Independence testing between categorical variables based on proportions of physicians with additional nuclear medicine board certification was performed on a subset of questions regarding PET and therapy practices.

Results

Sixty-seven people from at least 29 hospitals responded to the survey, including all 10 of the 2018–2019 U.S. News & World Report best children’s hospitals. The majority (48/67, 71.6%) of respondents indicated that pediatric nuclear medicine examinations were interpreted in the pediatric radiology department by pediatric radiologists and that most physicians interpreting the exams (43/67, 64.2%) did not have subspecialty certification in nuclear medicine or nuclear radiology. Most facilities offered PET/CT (57/67, 85.1%); few offered PET/MRI (12/67, 17.9%). Most facilities offered radiotherapies (57/67, 85.1%) but at most of these facilities (30/57, 52.6%), fewer than half the physicians who cover nuclear medicine were approved to administer therapies. In the subset analyses based on proportion of physicians with additional nuclear medicine board certification, there were statistically significant differences between the groups in availability of PET/MRI, lutetium-177 dotatate therapy programs, and percentages of physicians approved to administer therapies.

Conclusion

Pediatric nuclear medicine is largely practiced by pediatric radiologists without subspecialty certification. Staffing, PET practices and therapies vary among practices, in part associated with the number of radiologists with nuclear medicine board certification.

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Acknowledgments

Thank you to the Society for Pediatric Radiology for distributing the survey and to the respondents who participated in the survey.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Edward B. Singleton Department of Pediatric Radiology,, Texas Children’s Hospital, 6107 Fannin St., Suite 470, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Marla B. K. Sammer, Andrew C. Sher & Victor J. Seghers

  2. Department of Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine,, Houston, TX, USA

    Marla B. K. Sammer, Andrew C. Sher & Victor J. Seghers

  3. Department of Radiology, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Lisa J. States

  4. Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Lisa J. States

  5. Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Andrew T. Trout

  6. Department of Radiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Andrew T. Trout

Authors
  1. Marla B. K. Sammer
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  2. Andrew C. Sher
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  3. Lisa J. States
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  4. Andrew T. Trout
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  5. Victor J. Seghers
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marla B. K. Sammer.

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Conflicts of interest

Dr. Trout is a member of the board of the Joint Review Committee on Educational Programs in Nuclear Medicine Technology.

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Sammer, M.B.K., Sher, A.C., States, L.J. et al. Current trends in pediatric nuclear medicine: a Society for Pediatric Radiology membership survey. Pediatr Radiol 50, 1139–1147 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-020-04670-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-020-04670-9

Keywords

  • Children
  • Molecular imaging
  • Nuclear medicine
  • Pediatric nuclear medicine
  • Pediatric radiology
  • Positron emission tomography
  • Radiotherapy
  • Society for Pediatric Radiology
  • Survey