Radionuclides/Radiopharmaceuticals and Diagnostic Scanning Uses

[Show Table Outline]

Radionuclide/Radiopharmaceutical	Organ/Study
Technetium 99m (99mTc)
Technetium Tc 99m pertechnetate	Brain–delayed imaging Cardiac gated blood pool imaging Thyroid gland Parathyroid gland Parotid and salivary glands Scrotum and contents Meckel's diverticulum
Technetium Tc 99m stannous pyrophosphate	Cardiac infarction Cardiac gated blood pool imaging
Technetium Tc 99m diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA)	Brain–early imaging Cerebrospinal fluid flow imaging Renal glomerular filtration rate and blood flow imaging
Technetium Tc 99m RBC or albumin	Gastrointestinal bleeding
Technetium Tc 99m sulfur colloid	Gastrointestinal bleeding Gastric emptying Gastroesophageal reflux Esophageal motility Liver and spleen Bone marrow
Technetium Tc 99m glucoheptonate	Brain–early imaging Renal structural defects
Technetium Tc 99m hydroxyethylene	Bone and joint diphosphonate (HEDP)
Technetium Tc 99m methylene diphosphonate (MDP)	Bone and joint
Technetium Tc 99m albumin (MAA or HAM)	Lung perfusion
Technetium Tc 99m diisopropyl (IDA)	Gallbladder and biliary systems
Technetium Tc 99m dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA)	Renal excretion
Indium 111 (111In)
Indium In 111 diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA)	CSF flow imaging
Indium In 111 chloride	Bone marrow Gastric emptying
Indium In 111 WBC	Abscess and inflammatory areas
Iodine 131, 123, 125 (131I, 123I, 125I)
Metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) I 131	Thyroid malignancy total body scanning Pheochromocytoma
Norcholestenol iodomethyl I 131	Adrenal gland
Orthoiodohippurate (OIH) I 131	Renal function
Iodide I 123	Thyroid gland function
Iofetamine I 123	Brain scanning
Fibrinogen I 125	Deep venous thrombosis
Thallium 201 (201Tl)
Thallium chloride Tl 201	Cardiac perfusion Parathyroid gland
Selenium 75 (75Se)
Selenomethionine Se 75	Pancreas
Gallium 67 (67Ga)
Gallium citrate Ga 67	Body imaging for tumor or inflammatory process
Xenon 133 (133Xe)
Xenon Xe 133 gas	Lung ventilation
Krypton 81m (81mKr)
Krypton Kr 81m gas	Lung ventilation
Radionuclides and PET and SPECT Diagnostic Scanning
Oxygen 15 (15O), nitrogen 13 (13N), carbon 11 (11C), fluorine 18 (18F)	PET scanning
Gallium 67 (67Ga), thallium 201 (201Tl), technetium 99m (99mTc)	SPECT scanning
Radionuclides/Radiopharmaceuticals and Laboratory Diagnostic Testing
Chromium 51 (51Cr)
Chromated Cr 51 sodium	RBC volume and survival time
Chromated Cr 51 albumin	Gastrointestinal protein loss
Cobalt 57 (57Co)
Cyanocobalamin Co 57	Pernicious anemia
Iodine 131, 123, 125 (131I, 123I, 125I)
131I or 123I	Thyroid gland function
125I	Radioassays Total blood volume
Iodinated I 125 albumin	Plasma volume

* In this table, radionuclides appear in bold blue type and radiopharmaceuticals appear in regular type. For convention throughout the table and this chapter, radionuclides (i.e., radioactive isotopes) appear as the name of the element and the isotope number, abbreviated after initial mention (e.g., iodine 131 initially, 131I thereafter). Radiopharmaceuticals appear as the name of the drug containing the radionuclide followed by the element symbol, the isotope number, and the carrier agent, if one is used. This table includes the most commonly used pharmaceuticals and does not preclude the use of others for specific studies or laboratory tests.

[Table Outline]

• Technetium 99m (^99mTc)
• Indium 111 (¹¹¹In)
• Iodine 131, 123, 125 (¹³¹I, ¹²³I, ¹²⁵I)
• Thallium 201 (²⁰¹Tl)
• Selenium 75 (⁷⁵Se)
• Gallium 67 (⁶⁷Ga)
• Xenon 133 (¹³³Xe)
• Krypton 81m (^81mKr)
• Radionuclides and PET and SPECT Diagnostic Scanning
• Oxygen 15 (¹⁵O), nitrogen 13 (¹³N), carbon 11 (¹¹C), fluorine 18 (¹⁸F)
• Gallium 67 (⁶⁷Ga), thallium 201 (²⁰¹Tl), technetium 99m (^99mTc)
• Radionuclides/Radiopharmaceuticals and Laboratory Diagnostic Testing
• Chromium 51 (⁵¹Cr)
• Cobalt 57 (⁵⁷Co)
• Iodine 131, 123, 125 (¹³¹I, ¹²³I, ¹²⁵I)