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Scintigraphy is an imaging method based on giving patients certain radioactive drugs and taking images of their normal and abnormal distribution and uptake in the body. The most important advantage of scintigraphy is that it gives detailed information about the functioning of organs or systems.

The medication to be given to you for the examination will be prepared by the Nuclear Medicine Department. The radioactive substance used is prepared in very low pharmacological doses. This substance has no side effects and does not cause allergies.

No. Nuclear medicine examinations and treatments involve radiation. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, please inform our staff and doctors.

Nuclear medicine examinations involve radiation and are performed in radiation areas. If possible, it would be more appropriate to come to our department with an adult who can accompany your child.

Many radioactive substances are used in nuclear medicine, and nearly all of them may pass into breast milk. Before your examination, inform the nuclear medicine doctor of your situation and ask them to inform you about the radioactive substance used in the examination and what you need to do.

Positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) are standard imaging methods used to detect diseased tissues and organs. While PET provides information about biological (functional) abnormalities in the body, CT plays a role in determining the location and size of this diseased tissue. In addition, the CT part of the study plays a role in improving PET image quality.

PET-CT is an extremely safe method. The radioactive substances used during this examination pose no radiation risk to family members, because 90% of the drug given to the patient will be gone by the end of the examination. After the examination is completed, there is no problem with using shared spaces with other people or resuming your normal daily activities in public after 12 hours. What is important during this test is that you inform us if you are pregnant or have diabetes.

F-18 FDG, used in PET/CT examination, is a substance structurally similar to a sugar molecule. However, the glucose (sugar) given to you intravenously is in a very small amount, is not enough to raise your blood sugar and is eliminated from the body immediately. Therefore it will not have a harmful effect on you. However, there are differences in the preparation of patients with diabetes for the examination. To get detailed information on this subject, please contact the patient secretary's office.

At the time of your discharge, you will be given information and a document on how you can travel and what you need to pay attention to, depending on the dose in your body.

There are three main rules to remember:

Distance
The farther away others are from you, the less radiation they receive. Even an extra distance of 30-40 cm significantly reduces radiation. For this reason, you should try not to stay in close contact with other people unnecessarily.

Time
The radiation that other people receive is also related to how long you are in close contact with them. Therefore, you should try to keep the time you spend in close contact with others short.

Hygiene
The likelihood of the radioactive iodine leaving your body by various routes being passed on to other people can be minimized by following good hygiene rules. Since most of the radioactive iodine will leave your body in the urine, good toilet hygiene and frequent hand washing will reduce the likelihood of contamination.

• • Sleep alone for the first few days after your treatment. During this time, do not kiss and do not have sexual intercourse. Avoid close physical contact for long periods, especially with children and pregnant women. The thyroid glands of children and of unborn babies are more sensitive to radioactive iodine than those of adults.

• • If you are pregnant or may be pregnant, be sure to talk to your doctor. This treatment is not given to pregnant women. If you wish to become pregnant, discuss with your doctor how long after your treatment this can be.

• • If you are breastfeeding, stop breastfeeding, because radioactive iodine also passes into breast milk.

• • Wash your hands with plenty of water and soap after every visit to the toilet.

• • Keep the toilet especially clean and flush it 2-3 times after each use.

• • Wash your bathtub and sink after each use. Keeping your bathroom clean reduces the likelihood of contamination by radioactive iodine excreted through saliva and sweat.

• • Drink plenty of fluids such as water or fruit juice. This will increase the amount and frequency of your urination and allow the radioactive iodine to be eliminated from your body more quickly.

• • For the first few days after treatment, use separate eating utensils from everyone else (fork, spoon, plate, glass, etc.) and wash them separately.

• • Keep your towel and bathrobe separate. Wash your towel, bed and pillow linens, and underwear separately.