OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness, safety and cost implications of leflunomide treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. DESIGN Systematic review. SETTING Four trials retrieved from Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Econlit, HMIC (Dhdata), HMIC (Helmis), HMIC (King's Fund Database) and Best Evidence3. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Efficacy measures (including tender joint counts, swollen joint...

Safety case development is not a post-development activity, rather it should occur throughout the system development lifecycle. The key components in a safety case are safety arguments. Too often, safety arguments are constructed without proper reasoning. Inappropriate reasoning in safety arguments could undermine a system’s safety claims, which in turn contributes to safety-related failures of...

Spent resin often exceeds radiation limits for safe disposal, creating a need commercial-scale treatment techniques to reduce radioactivity. In this study, the radiological safety of commercialized spent device with capacity 1 ton/day was evaluated. The results confirm that is radiologically in event an accident. This desorbs 14C from resin, allowing disposal as low-level waste instead intermed...

AIM To determine the compliance of UK radiology departments and trusts/healthcare organisations with National Patient Safety Agency and Royal College of Radiologist's published guidance on the communication of critical, urgent, and unexpected significant radiological findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS A questionnaire was sent to all UK radiology department audit leads asking for details of their...

UNLABELLED Because of the increasing risk of radiological emergencies, public health agencies and first-response organizations are working to increase their capability of responding. Nuclear medicine technologists (NMTs) have expertise in certain areas, such as radiation safety, radiobiology, decontamination, and the use of radiation detection and monitoring equipment, that could be useful duri...

Background: Human activities such as mining enhance the radioactivity levels above normal background which can lead to an incremental increase in the radiation risk to the population. Materials and Methods: 20 tailing enriched soil samples collected around Maiganga coal mine, Gombe, Northeast Nigeria were assessed for their 226Ra, 232Th and 40K contents using HPGe gamma-ray detector. Results: T...

Live case presentations are increasingly common at interventional cardiology conferences. Taking advantage of significant advances in communication technology, broadcasts of procedures can be viewed as an extension of traditional medical education targeted to large groups of practitioners. However, there are important ethical, commercial, and patient safety issues associated with live cases tha...

BACKGROUND General practitioners (GPs) often decide to refer patients for medical imaging with ionizing radiation and are therefore responsible for assessing the benefits of the procedure against the possible risks. OBJECTIVE To assess the level of general practitioners' knowledge concerning radiation doses for patients undergoing common radiological investigations and the associated risks of...