Scintigraphy

Nuclear medicine is a branch of medicine that utilizes radioactive substances (radiopharmaceuticals) for biological and medical investigations. Scintigraphy is a diagnostic test in nuclear medicine that involves the administration of a radiopharmaceutical—a chemical compound containing a radioactive isotope. Depending on the organ or system to be examined, the radiopharmaceutical can be administered intravenously, orally, or intramuscularly.

Once the radiopharmaceutical is distributed throughout the body, a gamma camera detects the radiation emissions. The images captured by the gamma camera are then processed by a computer and displayed on a monitor.

Diagnostic techniques involve studying the fixation of a radionuclide attached to a molecule that “mimics” the metabolic activity of a tissue or binds to it through interaction with specific receptors. Radio-metabolic therapy uses substances that, by binding to pathological tissues through mechanisms similar to those used in diagnostics, selectively target these tissues with high doses of high-LET (Linear Energy Transfer) radiation (such as beta particles), while largely sparing healthy tissues.

Scintigraphy: Details

Scintigraphy is useful for evaluating the function of certain organs, such as the heart, lungs, or thyroid, or for detecting abnormal tissues like metastases. It can also help assess proper blood circulation in various organs.

In the case of bone scintigraphy, the results provide an image of the bones, referred to as a “total body” scan when covering the entire skeleton. The injected radiopharmaceutical tends to accumulate in areas of bone remodeling (fractures, trauma, osteoblastic metastases).

Services

The scintigraphy department at Ars Medica, located in the heart of North Rome, is equipped with a state-of-the-art nuclear medicine service featuring two dual-head Gamma Cameras:

• GE Discovery 53C Digital Gamma Camera: Specifically designed for myocardial scintigraphy using the GATED-SPECT method (stress/rest, pharmacological tests, detection of viable myocardium, equilibrium and first-pass angiocardiography), and sentinel lymph node detection.
• GE-MN830 Gamma Camera: Used for all other types of scintigraphy, including:
  • Sentinel lymph node scintigraphy
  • Salivary gland scintigraphy
  • Parathyroid scintigraphy
  • Thyroid scintigraphy with 99m Tc
  • Sequential renal scintigraphy
  • Segmental joint scintigraphy (simple or polyphasic)
  • Bone scintigraphy (total body)
  • Scintigraphy with labeled leukocytes

The Nuclear Medicine service is available under agreement.

Booking

When scheduling an appointment, whether by phone or in person, the reception staff will provide instructions for preparing for the exams. These instructions are available in a document that can be:

• Collected by the patient at the reception
• Sent via email to the address provided by the patient

At the time of booking, the staff will also communicate the date for collecting the exam results. Information on the collection times is available at the reception.

For scintigraphy exams, the patient is provided with a consent form to ensure they are informed about the benefits and risks of the procedure. The nuclear medicine physician ensures that the patient understands the information and asks the patient to sign the consent form before proceeding with the exam.