Scintimammography

Indications:

Used to localize a breast tumor.

The Procedure:

1. You will receive an injection in your hand or arm. The injection is not a dye or contrast. The injection is a low level radioactive material and patients rarely have a reaction. If you are an inpatient and have an existing INT or IV we may use that site for the injection.
2. 20 minutes after the injection we will start taking your images. You will lie on your stomach and images of the breast will be taken.
3. The entire procedure takes about one hour.

Inpatient and Outpatient Preparation Instructions:

1. If you are breast-feeding, pregnant, or think you are pregnant, you must inform Radiology before the date of your scan.
2. If you have had any mammography images taken prior to this scan you must bring them with you. If your mammography images were taken at Joint Township Hospital we will have them on file.

Note:

For your convenience we may schedule more than one test on the same day. This can be confusing because the tests may have different preparation instructions. If you are an outpatient and don’t understand the instructions please call Radiology. If you are an inpatient the nursing staff will correlate your test with the preparation.

For Your Information:

The Radiologist (x-ray doctor) will read the scan and send the results to your doctor.

Important:

There is a charge for the isotope injection that must be ordered before the scan. If it is necessary to cancel the scan, please call the Radiology department at 419-394-3335 extension 3528 as soon as possible.