Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear Medicine is a medical specialty that uses safe, painless, and cost-effective techniques to both image and in some cases treat diseases. Imaging follows an injection or ingestion of a minute amount of radioactive tracer to evaluate the functions, conditions and abnormalities of internal organs or bony structures. Nuclear medicine studies are unique in that they document function of organs in addition to structure.
What are some common uses of the procedure?
Nuclear medicine images can assist the physician in diagnosing diseases. Tumors, infection, and other disorders can be detected by evaluating organ function. Some specific uses are:
- Renal scan to analyze kidney function
- Nuclear Cardiology to diagnose ischemic disease of the heart
- Lung scan for respiratory and blood-flow problems
- Hepatobiliary scan to rule out cholecystitis & HIDA CCK to evaluate function of gallbladder
- Bone scan to evaluate bones for fracture, infection, arthritis or tumor
- Bone scan to determine the presence or spread of cancer
- GI bleeding scan to identify bleeding into the bowel
- Gallium scan to locate the presence of infection
- Thyroid scan to measure thyroid function to detect an overactive or underactive thyroid
- TC-99M sulfur colloid for liver-spleen imaging
Our Nuclear Medicine Program at LAMC includes the following procedures:
Myocardial perfusion sestamibi stress test
Myocardial perfusion Dipyridamole (pharma logical) stress test
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (Captopril) Renography
Cholescintigraphy
Equilibrium Grated Blood Pool Ventriculaography (MUGA)
Gallium-67 Citrate Tumor Imaging
Gastric emptying protocol
Iodine-131 Whole Body Imaging in Thyroid Cancer
TC-99m Red Blood Cell Labeling
TC-99m Red Blood Cell Scintigraphy
TC-99m Sestamibi Parathyroid Imaging
Tc-99m Sulfur Colloid Liver-Spleen Scintigraphy
Testicular Scintigraphy
Three-Phase Skeletal Scintigraphy
Thyroid Imaging
Thyroid Imaging with Iodine-123 (Sodium Iodide)
Whole body bone scan and SPECT
Iodine 131 Hyperthyroid Therapy
For more information call:
505-661-9532.