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General Practitoner's Section
 
Elisa for Diagnosing Tuberculous IgM and IgG Antibodies
OP Kapoor
 
 

I have rarely asked for the ELISA test for TB, which the doctors are very fond of. To find IgG antibodies to tuberculous bacilli in the blood does not mean that the patient is suffering from TB but it means that he had TB in the past. Then, what about the patients, whose blood shows IgM antibodies? It has been realised that non-tuberculous mycobacteria can cause these antibodies and thus give a false positive Elisa test.
 
Ex. Hon. Physician, Jaslok Hospital and Bombay Hospital, Mumbai, Ex. Hon. Prof. of Medicine, Grant Medical College and JJ Hospital, Mumbai 400 008
 
 

RADIOTHERAPY PATIENTS CAN TRIGGER AIRPORT RADIATION ALARMS

Patients who undergo diagnostic and therapeutic procedures involving radioisotopes must be informed that they might trigger radiation alarms during security checks. Gangopadhyay and colleagues describe the case of a 46 year old man who received radioiodine treatment for recurrent thyrotoxicosis. The nuclear medicine department did not tell the patient that he might set off radiation detectors. Six weeks later, the patient was detained at Orlando airport in the US after he triggered a radiation alarm. He was released after a long period of investigation and much embarrassments. The half life of the isotope and the increasing sensitivity of the detectors in airports must be considered when such warnings are given, the authors add.

BMJ, 2006; 333 : 293.
 
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