Kidney nuclear tablets scan

Kidney nuclear tablets scan

Definition

A kidney nuclear medicine scan, or study, is a simple outpatient oral exam that involves administering small amounts of radioactive substances, called tracers, into the body and consequently imaging the kidneys and bladder with a special camera. The similes obtained can minister to in the diagnosis and treatment of positive kidney diseases.

Purpose

While many test, such as x rays, ultrasound exams, or computed tomography scans (CT scans), can reveal the structure of the kidneys (its anatomy), the kidney nuclear prescription scan is unique contained by that it reveals how the kidneys are functioning. This is valuable information in helping a doctor receive a diagnosis. Therefore, the kidney nuclear medicine scan is perform primarily to see how well the kidneys are working and, at indistinguishable time, they can identify some of the various structures that trademark up the kidney.

Precautions

If a patient is pregnant, it is unanimously recommended that she not have a kidney nuclear prescription scan. The unborn baby is more sensitive to radiation than an mature. If a woman thinks she might be pregnant, she should inform her doctor of this too.

Women who are breastfeeding should also inform their doctor. The doctor may recommend the woman stop breastfeeding for a daytime or two after a kidney nuclear medicine scan, depending on the unique tracer that was used since the tracer can store up in breast milk.

Description

Nuclear prescription is a branch of radiology that uses radioactive materials to diagnose or treat various diseases. These radioactive materials (tracers) may also be call radiopharmaceuticals, and they accumulate (collect) surrounded by specific organs in the body. Radiopharmaceuticals are competent to yield useful information about the pernickety organ being studied.

Whether outside the body or inside the body, tracers expel radioactive signals, called gamma rays, which can be collected and counted by a special device, call a gamma camera. The images of the kidney that the camera produces are call renal scans.

The kidney nuclear tablets scan can be performed on an outpatient principle, usually by a nuclear medicine technologist. The technologist help prepare the patient for the exam by positioning him or her on an exam table or pushcart in the imaging nouns. The patient's position is usually flat on the posterior. The patient must tell stories still during imaging to prevent blurring of the images that will be taken. The technologist positions the camera as close to the kidney (or kidneys) as possible to dig up the best images.

In the subsequent step of the procedure, the technologist injects the radiopharmaceutical into the patient. This may be done near one single injection or through an intravenous (IV) line. Immediately after the tracer is injected, imaging begin. It is important to get your hands on images right away because the tracer's radioactivity begin to diminish (decay). The time required for one-half of the tracer's activity to rust is called the tracer's half-life (T 1/2). The half-life is extremely rare to each radiopharmaceutical. Also, it is substantial to see the kidney in its instant state.

Serial pictures are taken with the gamma camera and may be see on a computer or TV-like screen. The camera doesn't let off radiation, it only paperwork it. The images later are stored on film.

A kidney nuclear medication scan ranges from 45 minutes to three hours in length, depending on the goals of the interview. But the test typically take about an hour to an hour-and-a-half.

Once the descriptions and curves are obtained, the nuclear prescription physician or radiologist analyzes, or reads, them. Various information can be provided to the doctor through these, depending on the theory test that was perform. A variety of kidney nuclear prescription studies are available for a doctor to help surrounded by making diagnoses. It is important to have a handle on that kidney nuclear medicine scan are good at identify when there is an abnormality, but they do not other identify the specific problem. They are very adjectives in providing information going on for how the various parts of the kidneys function, which, within turn, can assist in making a diagnosis.

Studies may be perform to determine the rate at which the kidney's are filtering a tolerant's blood. These studies use a radiopharmaceutical, called Technetium DTPA (Tc 99m DTPA). This radiopharmaceutical also can identify obstacle (blockage) in the collecting system. To study how very well the tubules and ducts of the kidney are functioning, the radiopharmaceutical Technetium MAG3 is used. Studying tubular function is a good indicator of overall renal function. In tons renal diseases, one of the first things that disappears or diminishes is the tubular function.

Candidates for a kidney nuclear medicine scan are patients who enjoy:

• Renal failure or chronic renal letdown


• Obstruction in their urine collection systems


• Renal artery stenosis


• A kidney transplant.

Preparation

No preparation is indispensable for a kidney nuclear medicine scan. The doctor may ask the tolerant to refrain from secure medications, however, earlier the scan if the medications might interfere beside the test. For example, if a scan is one performed to study renal artery stenosis, the merciful may have to withhold from taking medications for hypertension.

Aftercare

Patients can resume their conventional daily comings and goings immediately after the try-out. Most tracers are passed naturally from the body, though drinking fluids after a kidney nuclear prescription scan can help flush the tracer into the urine and out of the body more speedily.

Risks

Nuclear medicine procedures are greatly safe. Unlike some of the dyes that may be used contained by x-ray studies, radioactive tracers rarely impose side effects. There are no long-lasting effects of the tracers themselves, because they have no functional effects on the body's tissues.

Normal results

The exam reveals normal kidney function for age and medical situation.

Abnormal results

The oral exam reveals a change within function that may be attributable to a disease process, such as obstruction or a malfunctioning kidney. If the assessment is abnormal, the merciful may be recalled another afternoon for a repeat study, performed differently, to come to a point the list of cause.

Key Terms

Intravenous pyelogram (IVP)

X ray technique using dye to emblem the kidneys, ureters, and bladder.

Renal

Having to do with the kidneys.

Renal artery stenosis

Narrowing or constriction of the artery that supplies the kidney near blood.