Nuclear Medicine is a medical specialty that uses radiopharmaceuticals to diagnose and treat various types of diseases. This specialty also plays an important role in researching and developing new medicines.
As opposed to radiology or radiotherapy where the radioisotope is confined, in Nuclear Medicine, radiopharmaceuticals are considered to be unsealed radioactive sources, as they are manipulated and usually administered to patients in small quantities by inhalation or orally.
These radiopharmaceuticals are thus detected by specific equipment, allowing more precise diagnoses. This method delivers key information on the function of various organs and on cellular metabolism, in a non-invasive, safe and usually painless way. Its high sensitivity can detect pathological processes before morphological changes occur, a decisive advance in diagnostic capabilities.
Nuclear Medicine is requested by several other medical specialties, such as Cardiology, Nephrology, Endocrinology or Neurology. However, it is especially important in Oncology, as it allows for tumor staging, assessment of responses to multiple therapies, and enables radiotherapy treatments planning and early detection of recurrences.
Exams we perform
- PET/CT (Positron Emission Tomography) with 18F-FDG, 18F-Choline, 68Ga-DOTANOC, 68Ga-PSMA, 18F-NAF, 18F-FDOPA and 18F-Florbetaben
- Cardiac Perfusion Scintigraphy
- Bone Scintigraphy
- Renogram (simple, diuretic, under captopril)
- Cyscintigraphy (direct and indirect)
- Renal, Pulmonary (ventilation and perfusion), Thyroid and Parathyroid Scintigraphy
- Scintigraphy of Somatostatin receptors
- Scintigraphy with 123I-MIBG (body and heart)
- Scintigraphy with Gallium-67 (body and partial)
- Lymphoscintigraphy for Sentinel Ganglion Mapping (breast, melanoma, among others)
- Cerebral Tomography (123I-Ioflupane Datscan, 123I-IBZM)
- SPECT/TC
At Joaquim Chaves Saúde’s medical clinics, you will find a team specialized in Nuclear Medicine, supported by state-of-the-art technological means, to obtain highly accurate diagnoses and the most effective therapeutic guidelines in every type of clinical conditions.
