What is a radionuclide scan?
A radionuclide is a chemical that is radioactive. Doctors give you a small dose of the radionuclide. The radionuclide gives off radiation that's picked up by a scanner placed over a certain area of your body. The scanner makes a picture of where the radiation is and how strong it is. This helps show doctors what's going on in the tissue they're testing.
Doctors can give you a radionuclide as:
Different radionuclides go to different parts of your body. Doctors pick which radionuclide to use depending on what they need a picture of. A radionuclide scan can help doctors find problems in many parts of your body:
Why would I need a radionuclide scan?
Doctors usually use this test to find problems such as:
Sometimes, doctors will use the test to see how well a part of your body is working. For example, doctors may see how your heart works when it’s pumping hard by doing the test while you walk or run on a treadmill. If you’ve had a heart attack, doctors may do this test to see how well your heart is recovering.
What happens during a radionuclide scan?
What are the risks of radionuclide scanning?
Radiation
You'll be exposed to much more radiation than a plain x-ray. Doctors try to limit the total amount of radiation you are exposed to over your lifetime. Getting too much radiation can raise your chance of getting cancer.
If you’re pregnant or could be pregnant, tell doctors before you get radionuclide scanning.
Radionuclides stay in your body for a few days. If you plan to fly on an airplane within a few days after getting this test, you may set off radioactivity alarms in the airport. Get a doctor’s note to have at the airport.
