The Nuclear Medicine Service is an integral part of the clinical and research activity of Endocrinology. Diagnostic and treatment activity takes place every day in close collaboration with the endocrinologists. This integration, together with the wide availability of radioiodine (I-131, used in the treatment of hyperthyroidism and differentiated thyroid cancer), has helped make Pisa Endocrinology a reference centre for thyroid diseases.
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- 050 995096
- Fax
- 050 995072
Diagnostic nuclear medicine
Tap a service to find out what it involves.
You take a small dose of radioactive iodine by mouth and, after a few hours, an image of the thyroid is taken. It is used to study hyperthyroidism and nodules.
After a small injection into a vein, an image of the thyroid showing the more and less active areas is obtained within a few minutes. It is useful to tell “hot” nodules from “cold” ones and to understand the cause of hyperthyroidism.
Image of the whole body after a dose of radioactive iodine, in patients who have had surgery for thyroid cancer. It shows any remaining thyroid tissue or sites of disease; it is done as a follow-up check or after radioiodine therapy.
Images of the neck taken after an injection into a vein: they identify the parathyroid gland that produces too much parathyroid hormone and help the surgeon plan the operation.
After an injection into a vein, it shows the areas of the skeleton where bone turnover is increased. In endocrinology it is mainly used to look for bone sites of tumours and in some bone diseases.
It uses a substance similar to somatostatin, which binds to neuroendocrine tumours: it shows where they are and any distant sites, and helps to choose the treatment.
Salivary gland scintigraphy assesses how well the glands work, which may decrease after radioiodine. The perchlorate test studies how the thyroid retains iodine, in some forms of congenital hypothyroidism or goitre.
Therapeutic nuclear medicine
Radioiodine (I-131) therapy is carried out in the day hospital (DH) for doses below 600 MBq and as a protected hospital admission for higher doses. Most cases of hyperthyroidism are treated in the day hospital.
The following are treated as protected hospital admissions:
- patients with hyperthyroidism who need doses above 600 MBq
- patients with thyroid carcinoma, for ablation of the thyroid remnant after surgery or destruction of metastases
- large nodular goitres, in patients who cannot have surgery