Pregnancy after RAI

[Guest guest]

If you have had RAI for therapy, you need a follow-up scan to evaluate the

effects of therapy. The follow-up scan is generally done in 6-12 months because

of the delay between delivery of

radiation and eventual cell death in thyroid cancer. Scanning and therapy are

contraindicated in

pregnancy. Therefore the number one reason to delay pregnancy for 6-12 months,

beyond any

potential issues of fetal abnormalities, is to get a follow-up scan to make sure

the therapy worked.

Jeff

A. , MD

Nuclear Medicine, A-72 (Fax)

Albany Medical Center

Albany, NY 12208

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It may be prudent for a woman to delay pregnancy for approximately 1 year after

radioiodine

therapy. This recommendation does not stem from any documented evidence of fetal

harm; rather,

it reflects the concern that persistent effects of radiation might continue to

exert cytogenetic

damage for several months.[7,8]Certainly, completing treatment and regaining the

euthyroid state

is likely to enhance the pregnancy.

RENA VASSILOPOULOU-SELLI , MD

Professor of Medicine

M.D. Cancer Center

Houston, Texas

Cheri Anderman wrote:

> Hi......

>

> My doctors at said to wait one year after treatment to be safe.

>

> Cheri

> Pap Thyca, 12.21 surgery

> NYC

> 33

> Re: Re-Pregnancy

>

> Laurel -

>

> My Dr. along with a couple books I have and things that I have read

> on the internet all say that waiting 6 months is fine. I would not

> try and get pregnant b4 the 6 months but I think it would be safe to

> try and conceive after.

>

>

>

>

> > Oh my gosh I about dropped my teeth when I read that an Endo

> recommended

> > waiting 4 wks after RAI to start a pregnancy. I am not a doctor nor

> am I a

> > nuclear technician or a physicist- I can only tell you what I

> experienced

> > and what I was told. I am an x-ray technician. In June of 2001 I

> was

> > sscheduled for an RAI -150mci. My endo told me I would be off work

> for

> > several days only.That The rai would not affect other people. I

> asked him if

> > it would affect the x-ray film that i handle every day.He did not

> know, he

> > checked with the nuc med tech and they did not know. So they called

> the a

> > physicist and he said most definitely I would need to be of work

> for 2 wks.

> > When I went in for the scan, I asked the tech about how long the

> RAI would

> > be working doing its job, how long it would remain in my body. If

> my memory

> > serves me correctly(and it usely does not) she said the it would

> remain

> > active till about october or November. She told me what the half

> life was

> > but I totaly forget. I guess my point is I would never ever

> consider

> > conceiveing till after a year. But that's my opinion and if I am

> wrong about

> > anything,please correct me somebody. laurel