Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging that uses small amounts of radioactive material to diagnose and determine the severity of or treat a variety of diseases, including many types of cancers, heart disease, gastrointestinal, endocrine, neurological disorders and other abnormalities within the body. Because nuclear medicine procedures are able to pinpoint molecular activity within the body, they offer the potential to identify disease in its earliest stages as well as a patient's immediate response to therapeutic interventions.

Diagnosis

Nuclear medicine imaging procedures are noninvasive and, with the exception of intravenous injections, are usually painless medical tests that help physicians diagnose and evaluate medical conditions. These imaging scans use radioactive materials called radiopharmaceuticals or radiotracers.

Some of the diagnosis procedures offered in Dr. KMH include (but not limited to),

• Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT):
  

  SPECT scans are primarily used to diagnose and track the progression of heart disease, such as blocked coronary arteries. There are also radiotracers to detect disorders in bone, gall bladder disease and intestinal bleeding.



• Positron Emission Tomography (PET):
  

  The major purpose of PET scans is to detect cancer and monitor its progression, response to treatment, and to detect metastases.



• Fused CT-PET Scans:
  

  A combination instrument that produces both PET and CT scans of the same body regions in one examination (PET/CT scanner) has become the primary imaging tool for the staging of most cancers worldwide.

The main difference between SPECT and PET scans is the type of radiotracers used.

The following investigations are done in our Nuclear Medicine Lab:

Heart

• Visualize heart blood flow and function (such as a myocardial perfusion scan)
• Detect coronary artery disease and the extent of coronary stenosis
• Assess damage to the heart following a heart attack
• Evaluate treatment options such as bypass heart surgery and angioplasty
• Evaluate the results of revascularization procedures
• Detect heart transplant rejection
• Evaluate heart function before and after chemotherapy (MUGA)

Lungs

• Scan lungs for respiratory and blood flow problems
• Assess differential lung function for lung reduction or transplant surgery
• Detect lung transplant rejection

Bones

• Evaluate bones for fractures, infection and arthritis
• Evaluate for metastatic bone disease
• Evaluate painful prosthetic joints
• Evaluate bone tumors
• Identify sites for biopsy

Brain

• Investigate abnormalities in the brain in patients with certain symptoms or disorders, such as seizures, memory loss and suspected abnormalities in blood flow
• Detect the early onset of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease
• Assist in surgical planning and localize seizure foci
• Evaluate for abnormalities in a chemical in the brain involved in controlling movement in patients with suspected Parkinson's disease or related movement disorders
• Evaluation for suspected brain tumor recurrence, surgical or radiation planning or localization for biopsy

Cancer

• Stage cancer by determining the presence or spread of cancer in various parts of the body
• Localize sentinel lymph nodes before surgery in patients with breast cancer or skin and soft tissue tumors
• Plan treatment
• Evaluate response to therapy
• Detect the recurrence of cancer
• Detect rare tumors of the pancreas and adrenal glands

Renal

• Analyze native and transplant kidney blood flow and function
• Detect urinary tract obstruction
• Evaluate for hypertension related to the kidney arteries
• Evaluate kidneys for infection versus scar
• Detect and follow-up urinary reflux

Other Systems

• Identify inflammation or abnormal function of the gallbladder
• Identify bleeding into the bowel
• Assess post-operative complications of gallbladder surgery
• Evaluate lymphedema
• Evaluate fever of unknown origin
• Locate the presence of infection
• Measure thyroid function to detect an overactive or underactive thyroid
• Help diagnose hyperthyroidism and blood cell disorders
• Evaluate for hyperparathyroidism
• Evaluate stomach emptying
• Evaluate spinal fluid flow and potential spinal fluid leaks

Nuclear medicine therapies include:

• Radioactive iodine (I-131) therapy used to treat some causes of hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid gland, for example, Graves' disease) and thyroid cancer
• Radioactive antibodies used to treat certain forms of lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system)
• Radioactive phosphorus (P-32) used to treat certain blood disorders
• Radioactive materials used to treat painful tumor metastases to the bones
• I-131 MIBG (radioactive iodine labeled with metaiodobenzylguanidine) used to treat adrenal gland tumors in adults and adrenal gland/nerve tissue tumors in children.