Nuclear Medicine, an appreciated history from Pinar del Río

Abstract

Introduction: The discovery of X-rays more than a century ago changed medical practice by making it possible for physicians and scientists to see what was happening inside the living organism. Nuclear Medicine is a medical specialty that uses radiotracers (radiopharmaceuticals), compounds containing radioactive material, which are administered in small and sufficiently innocuous amounts, used for diagnosis and treatment. It was carried out by means of a bibliographic review, available files and interviews to participants in the implementation and development of its services to the population in Pinar del Río.

Development: the authors present its historical evolution until its insertion in Pinar del Rio's public health, of a specialty marked by the course of research and emblematic events that embody nuclear ontology, philosophical basis for the creation and existence of radiotherapeutic principles that continue influencing current clinical practices. The classical paradigm that began with it, has led those specialists of both Nuclear Medicine, as well as related specialties, to the process of conceptual definition in the care practice of the current molecular theragnostic strategy.

Conclusions: the evolutionary history of the specialty is exposed from the pioneers of Nuclear Medicine and Teragnosis, the discoverers of the use of radioiodine for medical applications, the main figures who participated in its scientific development, many Nobel Prize laureates, until its accessibility by the Minsap for the Pinar del Río population, a useful material, available for consultation and incentive for its expansion.