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Biomedical subjects

F A de Jonge

Publications and source records attributed to F A de Jonge.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Technetium, the missing element.

The history of the discovery of technetium is reviewed within the framework of the discovery and production of artificial radioactivity in the twentieth century. Important elements of this history are the accidental production of this element in a cyclotron in Berkeley, California, USA, a machine devised by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, and its subsequent discovery in 1937 by Carlo Perrier and Emilio Segrè in scrap metal parts sent by Lawrence to Palermo, Italy by mail. A detailed account is given of the steps taken; the history of the later discovery of the technetium-99m isotope in 1938 is likewise examined. Sources of natural and artificial technetium are briefly discussed.

Cyclotrons

Scintigraphy in the clinical evaluation of disorders of mineral and skeletal metabolism in renal failure.

In patients with renal bone disease skeletal and extra-skeletal abnormalities can be visualised using conventional bone scintigraphy. Some of these abnormalities are associated with characteristic scintigraphic appearances, which are reviewed in detail, and the possible mechanisms involved are discussed. Specific imaging with iodine 123 serum amyloid P component and iodine 131 beta 2-microglobulin is also discussed in the diagnosis of beta 2-microglobulin amyloidosis specific to patients on dialysis. In the light of available evidence, it appears that bone scintigraphy plays, so far, a limited role in the clinical evaluation of skeletal and extra-skeletal abnormalities in chronic renal failure. The potential role of bone scintigraphy in identifying patients with aluminium-related bone disease needs to be investigated further, and in this respect special attention must be given to the problem of high soft-tissue activity associated with impaired renal function. Timing haemodialysis sessions before scintigraphic imaging deserves wider recognition as it reduces high soft-tissue activity, thereby allowing bone uptake to be assessed more accurately. Specific imaging of amyloidosis resulting from beta 2-microglobulin deposition is a promising technique, but the relative value of the two proposed radiopharmaceuticals needs further clarification.

Amyloidosis

Sciatic neuritis as initial symptom of spontaneous clostridial myonecrosis.

A 21-year-old woman is reported with aplastic anaemia, who presented with pain in the leg. Rapid loss of sciatic nerve function followed. MRI showed irregular streaks of low intensity in the muscles of the pelvic region. A diagnosis of sciatic neuritis as initial symptom of clostridial myonecrosis was made.

Adult