To help your physician detect the presence of a parathyroid adenoma  (benign tumor). 

A technologist will explain the entire process to you prior to starting the exam.  He/she will also ask you some health history questions, which will help our radiologist interpret your exam.

A technologist will give you an intravenous (IV) injection of our radioactive imaging material.  You will be asked to drink some water prior to each image time.  You will then lie flat on our imaging bed while our camera will be placed over your neck area.  The images will take about 5 - 15 minutes per view.

If you have any technical questions specific to this procedure, please don’t hesitate to ask the technologist at dosing time.  All clinical questions should be directed to your physician.

A report will be sent to your ordering physician.

Total time for this exam is about 4 hours.  There is about a 15-minute wait after injection time to our first image.  You are free to go anywhere until the second or delayed image 3 hours after injection. 

No complications are expected from this procedure.

Studies of the health effects of radiation have shown that high doses of radiation can cause cancer.  However, this hospital procedure requires that we inject you with a very low level of radioactive material. 

The risk from lower doses of radiation, such as you will receive during this exam, is uncertain.  Most scientists believe that the risk is very small.  Certainly, the benefits received from the exam far outweigh the small risk associated with this procedure