Cerebral Perfusion Study
What are the prerequisites for having a cerebral perfusion study done? Due to the complexity of neurological conditions, generally these studies are only referred by neurology consultants. Consultants who are unsure whether a cerebral perfusion study is the most appropriate test for their patient should consult a nuclear medicine specialist. Doctors treating women who are... View ArticleIodine-131 Therapy
What are the prerequisites for having Iodine-131 therapy done? Endocrine specialists generally refer patients for these treatments. All women who are not yet menopausal must have a blood test on the day of the treatment to ascertain pregnancy status. This is at the nuclear medicine physician’s discretion. For patients having an ablative dose as a... View ArticleMIBG scan
What is an MIBG scan? An MIBG scan is a nuclear medicine scan that uses iodine-123 meta-iodobenzylguanidine – MIBG for short. An MIBG scan is commonly used for detection of neuroendocrine tumours, such as neuroblastoma and phaeochromocytoma. It can also aid in the detection of carcinoid and medullary thyroid carcinoma. Author: Dr Dee Nandurkar* What... View ArticleNuclear Medicine
What are the precautions for children and pregnant patients who require a nuclear medicine procedure? Nuclear medicine studies are frequently used in children, and the dose of the administered radiopharmaceutical is adjusted to the patient’s weight. As for all imaging studies involving ionising radiation, it is important that careful consideration is given to carrying out... View ArticleNuclear Medicine Bone Scan
What are the generally accepted indications for a bone scan? Nuclear medicine bone scans are used to evaluate and localise bony pathologies. They are useful to assess the source of presumed bone pain, such as hip pain or foot pain. Bone scans are often used as a complementary study to further investigate abnormalities found on... View ArticleNuclear Medicine Cardiac Stress Test
What is a Nuclear Medicine (NM) Cardiac Stress test? A Nuclear Medicine (NM) cardiac stress test involves a scintigraphic (radioactive isotope) scan of the heart in conjunction with an exercise stress test to evaluate myocardial perfusion. The stress test usually uses treadmill exercise, but when the patient is unable to exercise then “stress” can be pharmacologically... View ArticleNuclear Medicine DMSA Scan
What is a DMSA scan? DMSA, or dimercaptosuccinic acid, is bound to technetium 99m to form the radiopharmaceutical, 99m-Tc DMSA. After intravenous injection, the isotope is allowed to circulate through the body anywhere between 90 minutes and 4 hours. During this time, 95% of the radiopharmaceutical is bound to the renal cortex and the remaining... View ArticleNuclear Medicine Gated Blood Pool Scan
What are the prerequisites for having an gated blood pool scan done? There are no pre-requisites for this study. What are the absolute contraindications for an gated blood pool scan? This study may not be suitable for pregnant women. The benefit versus risk should be discussed with the nuclear medicine specialist. Women who are breastfeeding... View ArticleNuclear Medicine Renal Scan
A nuclear medicine renal scan is used to assess blood flow, function and drainage of the kidneys. The radio-isotope, 99m-Tc, is bound to either DTPA (diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid) or MAG3 (mercaptoacetyletriglycine) to form the radiopharmaceutical. The radiopharmaceutical is injected into a vein and enters the kidneys. The radioactive component of the radiopharmaceutical emits gamma... View ArticleNuclear Medicine Thyroid Scan
Thyroid scanning or scintigraphy is a procedure to image the thyroid gland. 99m-Tc pertechenetate is the radiopharmaceutical administered intravenously and imaged on a gamma camera. Authors: Cr Chian Chang* Dr Dee Nandurkar * What is a thyroid scan? Thyroid scanning or scintigraphy is a procedure to image the thyroid gland. 99m-Tc pertechenetate is the radiopharmaceutical... View ArticleOctreotide Scan
What are the prerequisites for having an octreotide scan done? No fasting is required prior to procedure; A relevant history of the type of suspected or known primary tumour, its hormonal activity, the results of other imaging studies (CT, MRI), laboratory results (tumour markers), history of recent surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and octreotide therapy should... View ArticleParathyroid MIBI Scan
What is a parathyroid MIBI scan? A parathyroid MIBI scan is used in nuclear medicine to look at possible problems involving the parathyroid gland(s). The parathyroid scan uses the radioisotope, technetium-99m sestamibi (or MIBI), which is injected into the body and absorbed by the overactive parathyroid mitochondria. A hyperactive gland is picked up by the... View ArticlePET Scan
What is a PET scan? PET stands for “positron emission tomography”. It is a nuclear medicine imaging test in which an injected radiolabeled molecule enables functional imaging, typically of a metabolic pathway or cell surface receptor. To date, this has mainly been applied for cancer imaging, but it is also useful for imaging inflammation, infection... View ArticleSPECT-CT Scan
What is a SPECT-CT scan? SPECT-CT imaging involves the acquisition of a low dose, non-contrast CT (computed tomography) scan immediately before SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomography) imaging, which uses a rotating gamma camera. It is usually performed in nuclear medicine as an adjunct to standard single plane, gamma camera imaging. Authors: Dr Geoffrey Soo* ... View ArticleVQ Scan
What are the generally accepted indications for VQ Scan? A ventilation–perfusion (VQ) scan evaluates the airflow (ventilation) and blood flow (perfusion) in the lungs. They are used in several clinical settings for: the diagnosis of a suspected pulmonary embolus; and the assessment of regional lung function. Other indications are quantifying right to left shunts and... View ArticleWhole Body MIBI Myeloma Scan
What are the prerequisites for having a whole body MIBI myeloma scan done? As the scan involves an injection of radioactivity, it is not advisable in pregnant females. What are the absolute contraindications for a whole body MIBI myeloma scan? This study may not be suitable for pregnant women. The benefit versus risk should be... View ArticlePage last modified on 16/3/2018.
