nuclear scanning

Any diagnostic procedure (e.g., bone scan, liver scan, thyroid scan) that uses a radioisotope (e.g., 99m-Technetium (99mTc) or 123-iodine (123I)) linked to a molecule that selectively concentrates in a particular tissue. After administration, the compound’s distribution in the body is evaluated using a scintillation camera; any region that is larger, brighter or located in different sites is at least suspicious of harbouring a neoplasm.

Risks
The amount of radioactivity in the isotopes used in diagnostic medicine are minimal and pose no threat to health; moreover the body flushes out or “turns over” the radioactive ions within hours to days after the study’s completion.

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References in periodicals archive

At a meeting of the FDA's Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee, the panel was asked to address questions surrounding the clinical utility of investigational radionuclide imaging products that detect amyloid in the brain.

FDA panel: amyloid imaging may rule out Alzheimer's

Radiography, radionuclide imaging, and arthrography in the evaluation of total hip and knee replacement.

Nuclear medicine of the painful joint replacement

ACC/AHA/ASNC guidelines for the clinical use of cardiac radionuclide imaging: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines.

How accurate is stress radionuclide imaging for diagnosis of CAD?

In addition, Coley et al[33] used contrast media with CDI, PDI and radionuclide imaging in rabbits with acute testicular torsion.

Power Doppler Imaging: Principles and Applications

They describe topics in radionuclide imaging, from the principles and performance characteristics of gamma cameras to general concepts of image quality to basic concepts of reconstruction tomography.

Physics in nuclear medicine, 4th ed. (online access included)

Topics on triggers for plaque rupture include physical and mechanical stress, inflammation and matrix metalloproteinases and apoptosis, and those on diagnosis and management include emerging biomarkers of instability, ultrasonic and magnetic resonance imaging, near-infrared spectroscopy, radionuclide imaging, intervascular thermography, optical coherence tomography, intravascular palpography, new developments such as photodynamic therapy, thermal stabilization and genetic modulation.

The vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque; strategies for diagnosis and management

In contrast, the strengths of radionuclide imaging and angiography lie in their ability to identify regional coronary disease.

MRI predicts women's coronary event risk: new global perfusion index

Patients with these abnormalities on resting ECG may require exercise testing with echocardiographic or radionuclide imaging. Persons unable to exercise may require pharmacologic stress testing.

Stable angina update

The left ventricular wall motion of the patients was assessed immediately after the speech using radionuclide imaging. New or worsened wall-motion abnormalities were seen in 37 of the 182 patients (20%).

Mental Stress Worsens CAD Mortality Risk

* There are insufficient data to recommend PET scanning or radionuclide imaging (with iodocholesterol or iobenguane sulfate 1-123) in the evaluation of incidentally detected adrenal masses.

Incidental adrenal masses. (The Effective Physican)