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The purpose of this study is to obtain pictures of the distribution of a tumour-seeking agent in your body. This will help the doctor diagnose your condition and give appropriate treatment.
When you arrive at the Nuclear Medicine Department, you will be asked to lie down and rest for 1 hour in a quiet, darkened room. This reduces unnecessary uptake of the tumour-seeking agent into tense muscle. We may check your glucose level before any injection. You will then be given an injection of a radioactive tracer into a vein in your arm. About 30-40 minutes later you would be asked to empty your bladder and attend the imaging session. For this you will lie down on a couch. If the scan is being done using a SPECT camera, it will rotate around your body taking pictures continuously for about 30 minutes at a time. If the scan is carried out with a PET camera, the couch will move you into the detector ring (much like the shape of a ring doughnut) and you will not see any movement of the camera. It may be necessary for your arms to be placed above your head for the procedure. In order to get good pictures, you will have to remain still. You do not normally need to take off clothing. Only removal of jewellery and metal objects is required. The pictures may take up to one and a half hours in all, and you should allow 3-4 hours for your stay in the Department.
If you are pregnant, or you think you might be pregnant, you need to inform your doctor or the Nuclear Medicine staff before attending your appointment. In general, exposure to radiation during pregnancy should be kept to a minimum and it may be necessary to postpone your scan. If you are breastfeeding, it is advisable to feed the baby before the injection and to express and discard any breast milk produced for the first 8 hours following the injection
We would prefer that you do not bring more than one person with you. It is advisable not to have a pregnant woman or a small child with you. This is to avoid exposing them to unnecessary radiation. It is also preferable to avoid prolonged close contact (hugging a child / sitting a child on your knee for more than half an hour) for the rest of the day.
You must fast for at least 4 hours before the test and continue fasting until the imaging is completed. You may only drink clear fluid with no sugar or glucose. PLEASE TELL US IF YOU ARE DIABETIC. CONTINUE WITH NORMAL FOOD AND TREATMENT, BUT TELL US WHAT TREATMENT YOU ARE ON AND YOUR USUAL BLOOD SUGAR.
It is important that you do not participate in any form of strenuous exercise during these 8-9 hours.
The needle prick from the injection may hurt a little. Our doctors will be available during your stay in the department to answer any queries and to provide medical cover in case of any side effect from the injection we give you (please note that side effects are extremely rare).
The amount of radioactivity you receive in this study is strictly within the recommended national level. At this level, the benefit to you from a diagnosis of your condition outweighs the risk (negligible) of any harm associated with the radiation you will receive.
You may resume eating as normal. The more fluid you drink the better, as the radioactivity is passed out in the urine. No extra precautions need to be taken when passing urine.
The Nuclear Medicine doctor will report on the study and the result will be sent to the doctor who requested the study. He/she will be able to discuss the results with you in relation to other tests you may have had.