OTHER NAMES

• Thyroid Centelleografia.

DEFINITION

The thyroid Gammagrafia is a medical exploration that consists of the introduction in the patient of radioactive isotopes (Iodine I-131 ó Tecnecio 99m), which are absorbed by the thyroid gland, allowing to obtain a radiological image of the gland thyroid gland. This image gathers for the beams emission gamma of this tracer towards an external x-rays badge.

RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES OF THE THYROID GLAND

For ages there has been used the Iodine I-131, which is a radioactive tracer of easy acquisition and storage since it has a period of semidisintegration of 8 days. This scoreboard has the same chemical characteristics as the stable iodine, but it has in his nucleus an energy excess and gets rid of her expressing a few radiant particles, beams beta and gamma.

The Tecnecio is a new scoreboard that fixes of form similar to the cells thyroid gland but that does not form hormonal compounds. His period of semidisintegration of only 6 hours and therefore it can be used in doses higher than the radioyodo, offering better images than the radioactive Iodine. It does not have radiation beta and as it it has less risks for the patient.

TEAMS OF SECURING OF THE THYROID IMAGES

To gather in the shape of image the radiation gamma produced by the radioactive tracer be an Iodine or Tecnecio we need of a team detector that the same one should allow us to gather in a X-ray badge.
The device is called a gamma - camera and that will translate the radiation gamma for us to an analogical sign that registers on a black and white X-ray badge.
By means of new systems converters, of analogical to digitalis, the gamma - camera gets connected to a computer that allows us to obtain records in color, quantifiable for areas if it is needed.

METHOD OF ACHIEVEMENT

The radioactive tracer administers oral route in the shape of capsules. If 131 administers Iodine the gammagrafía is carried out at 12 p.m., if the image is realized by Tecnecio gammagráfica he retires at 2 a.m. The device of collection or gamma - camera causes neither problems nor pain to the patient and the whole exploration is realized in less than 30 minutes.

UTILITY OF THE THYROID GAMMAGRAFÍA

The gammagrafía is used to diagnose:

• Patients with masses in the neck
• Patients with cold thyroid nodules (do not gather scoreboard)
• Patients with warm thyroid nodules (if they gather scoreboard)
• Patients with hipertirodismo, discriminating against a diffuse hypertrophy of the gland (Illness of Serious), of a nodular (E. de Plummer)
• Cancer Metástasis, if the gammagrafía is normal discards a primary thyroid tumor.
• Patients with carcinoma of thyroid gland, which they produce metástasis.

CONTRAINDICATIONS

• Patients allergic to the Iodine, and to the shellfish
• Pregnancy

SIDE EFFECTS

Cancer for the radiation. The current tracers of Iodine 131, and Tecnecio perform low activity ionizante and for it this complication is much remota./p>

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