Radiosynovectomy in the treatment of arthritis by Erbium isotopes

Abstract

Arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis is a common, chronic disease and systemic and local drug treatments are
used. Radiosynovectomy is the best therapeutic option for the local treatment of arthritis. Rheumatic conditions tend
to involve pain, aching, stiffness, and swelling in and around one or more joints .In radiosynovectomy radioactive
labeled particles with a size of 0.05–2 μm are applied directly in the articular cavity. The radioactive particles are
transported in the depth of synovia and phagocytized from macrophages and other inflammatory cells. The first
treatment of arthritis using radioactive gold (198AU) .The problemof 198AU in radiosynovectomy is the high leakage
rate after treatment caused by the small sizes of particles.In the last 20 years the radiosynovectomy showed a
renaissance using erbium-169 citrate (169Er) in small joints. Several constant synovitis of interdigital joints opposed
to to suitable conventional anti-inflammatory treatment could benefit from radio-synoviorthesis through erbium-169.
Erbium-169 synoviorthesis be technically simple to perform and free of side effects.