Is Fludeoxyglucose F18 safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Fludeoxyglucose F18. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
F18 is a positron emitter with a principal decay energy of 0.6335 MeV, annihilation photons of 0.511 MeV, and a physical half-life of 1.8 hours and 0.07% of an administered dose appears in breastmilk.[ 4 ] The maximum effective half-life is 0.89 hours.[ 8 ] Maternal Levels. Four women provided milk samples after being given 18F-FDG for a PET scan. Doses ranged from 50 to 160 MBq. Three gave a single milk sample and one gave 4 samples between 0.75 and 3.5 hours after the dose. The authors calculated that the maximum radioactivity in milk would be 19 Bq/mL for each MBq administered and that peak activity in breastmilk would occur 3 hours after administration.[ 1 ] Many diagnostic studies are performed using doses up to 370 MBq, which may require a longer period of breastfeeding abstinence. Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Fludeoxyglucose F18 is known to be harmful, and not that it is known to be safe. Your prescriber or pharmacist can weigh your baby's age and whether a better-studied alternative would do the same job. Worth asking before stopping a medicine you need.
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.