Nuclear Imaging Exams Authorized by the Brazilian Health Care System and Nuclear Imaging Equipment Distribution in the State of Rio Grande do Sul

• Autor(a) principal: Silva,Patrícia Silva da
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Rosa,Roger dos Santos, Bordin,Ronaldo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://scielo.pt/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2504-31452019000200004
• topic: Diagnostic imaging; Statistics; Numerical data; Nuclear medicine; Public management

Introduction: For nuclear imaging exams to be funded by the Brazilian public health care system (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS), the institution must be first authorized by the National Nuclear Energy Commission (Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear, CNEN) to secure the safe use of radiation. - Objective: To describe the distribution of equipment used in nuclear imaging exams and the quantity of exams funded by the SUS according to the macroregions defined by Rio Grande do Sul Health Department from 2013 to 2015. To check the consistency of data from the Department of Informatics of the Ministry of Health (Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde, DATASUS) and the CNEN in November 2015. - Methods: Secondary data from DATASUS and the CNEN were used. The region of health, the macroregion, and its respective estimated population were obtained from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. - Results: The Porto Alegre metropolitan area showed the largest concentration of gamma cameras. The number of exams was higher in philanthropic institutions with a valid register at the Brazilian Ministry of Health and federal funded organizations. Some regions had less CNEN-authorized institutions than SUS-authorized ones. - Conclusion: The distribution of equipment and exams was uneven in the state.