Alternative diagnostic PET scans are being substituted for nuclear medicine lung perfusion studies due to a critical national shortage of radioisotopes, the government has announced.
A complete halt in production of Mo-99 at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisations’ (ANSTO) facility at Lucas Heights, Sydney, means that supplies of radionucleotides will be extremely limited for the next few months, the federal minister for health Greg Hunt said on 13 September.
And the shortage is likely to worsen because only very limited alternative supplies are being sourced from South Africa, the minister said.
“It is important that prioritisation of the most urgent cases occurs and I have been assured that ANSTO and the Nuclear Medicine Working Group are ensuring supply is distributed to patients around the country as equitably as possible,” said Mr Hunt.
The Australia and NZ Society for Nuclear Medicine (ANZSNM) has warned that supplies of Technetium-99m (TC-99m) will be extremely limited in coming weeks. It noted that the Department of Health has therefore made temporary provisions under the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) to allow access to relevant PET services to ensure continuity of care for patients.
“As everyone is aware, we are currently facing an extremely challenging time with the mechanical breakdown at ANSTO’s ANM facility leading to a total cessation of Mo-99 production in Australia. Even with sourcing Mo-99 from overseas we will still be facing a significant shortage of Tc-99m availability,” ANZSNM, said in a statement.
“The severity of the shortage of Tc-99m, combined with the unknown length of time of reduced availability, is extremely concerning.”