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Nuclear Medicine (Nm) Exams

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Nuclear Medicine (Nm) Exams How much radiation What questions NUCLEAR MEDICINE is used in Nuclear might we ask? (NM) EXAMS Medicine? ✔ IS THIS NM EXAM NEEDED? ✔ HOW WILL THIS NM EXAM HELP MY CHILD? IN CHILDREN The amount of radiation in NM exams ✔ WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF NOT HAVING THIS depends on the type of exam, and the size of NM EXAM? the child. Most of the common NM exams in ✔ HOW WILL THIS NM EXAM TEST BE DONE? children deliver very low radiation doses. The ✔ WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL RISKS FOR MY length of time it takes the radioactivity used CHILD DURING AND AFTER THIS NM EXAM? in a NM exam to disappear from the body depends on the type of radioactive tracer ✔ ARE THERE RISKS FROM THE RADIOACTIVE TRACER FOR FAMILY MEMBERS? used in the exam. Radiation from the child is ANY PRECAUTIONS WE SHOULD TAKE? not a risk for others, but family members can ✔ HOW DOES THE IMAGING FACILITY DECIDE seek advice from health professionals, if they THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF RADIOACTIVITY are concerned. FOR MY CHILD? When NM exams are necessary and an appropriate dose is used, they provide far more benefit than potential harm. There are many ways to be sure the amount of radioactivity is right. The risk of not having necessary NM exams is Paediatric Equivalent period Increase in the risk of NM exam of exposure to cancer in the future much greater than the radiation risk. What natural radiation do we need to NM cystogram 1 month Minimal (bladder exam) (very much less than 1%) Additional Resources NM bone scan 2.5 years Very low This leaflet was developed as a complementary tool to the WHO report know (much less than 1%) ? Communicating Radiation Risks in PET-CT exam 6 years Low (less than 1%) Paediatric Imaging, where you can find more detailed information. When these exams are needed, their benefit is very high, and much greater than the risks Further useful information is available at Image Gently http://www.imagegentlyparents.org Nuclear Medicine exams What are nuclear Nuclear medicine exams for children We should be sure that an imaging test will medicine exams? are useful in pediatrics do more good than harm (doctors call this These exams are called “nuclear” simply because of This child had abdominal pain and bleeding from the “justification”). It is important to deliver the type of substance used in them. bowel. Using only a small amount of a radioactive tracer, the smallest amount of radiation needed to the NM exam showed a bowel condition which some children are born with called Meckel’s diverticulum. Nuclear medicine (NM) obtain images for the desired purpose (doctors The NM exam and surgery led to exams look at how parts of call this “optimization”). Both are part of complete recovery. responsible and ethical medical practice. the body work using small amounts of a radioactive This NM scan shows abnormal tracer, usually in a vein accumulation of the radiotracer in the bowel (see arrow) How much do you know (through an IV). Pediatric about radiation? NM provides information that is not available from Radiation is energy that travels in the form of waves or Pediatric Nuclear particles. Radiation is part of our everyday environment. other imaging exams. Once People are exposed to cosmic radiation from outer space, the tracer is given, pictures are taken with a special Medicine exams save lives as well as to natural radioactive materials found in the camera that show tracer distribution in the body. NM is a safe and non-surgical imaging modality. soil, water, food, air and also in the body. The use of Hydrocephalus is a very serious condition in which radiation in medicine is the largest artificial source of A single-photon emission cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) — the clear, watery fluid that radiation exposure today. computed tomography surrounds and cushions the brain and spinal cord — can’t (SPECT) is a NM exam that drain well from the brain. This causes fluid to collect and uses another special camera pressure on the brain. If it’s not treated, hydrocephalus An important fact about radiation can cause brain damage. A “shunt to create 3-dimensional There are two types of radiation: ionizing and non-ionizing procedure” is when a thin, flexible radiation. pictures of the body. tube is placed from the brain to the Ionizing radiation can remove electrons from atoms. abdomen to drain the buildup of Medical and dental conventional radiography, computed Positron emission tomography fluid on the brain (Fig 1). Following tomography (CT), nuclear medicine and fluoroscopy are (PET) is a NM exam that a head injury, an 8-year-old boy examples of exams that use ionizing radiation. looks for areas of abnormal activity. NM exams can needed a shunt procedure. A NM 1 In contrast, non-ionizing radiation can make atoms be combined with other exam showed that the shunt was draining properly. The radioactive vibrate, but does not have enough energy to remove exams and this is called electrons. Ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging tracer (dark blue in the abdomen) “hybrid” imaging, For (MRI) are examples of exams that use non-ionizing allowed physicians to follow the radiation. example SPECT and PET can normal function of the path of CSF be combined with computed away from the brain (Fig 2). 2 tomography (CT) or magnetic Nuclear Medicine exams Fig. 1: tube placed from the brain to the abdomen resonance imaging (MRI). use ionizing radiation Fig. 2: image of the shunt obtained by a NM exam.
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