Radiation exposure
Due to the use of modern radioactive materials with a fast decay time, the radiation exposure is relatively low. In everyday life, the body is exposed to a minimal natural radiation exposure, which is measured in Sievert and is about 0.2 mili Sievert, i.e. 2 thousandths of a Sievert. The radiation exposure depends on the type of scintigraphy performed.
In the case of thyroid scintigraphy, it is about 1 milli sievert, which is an additional exposure equivalent to about half of a natural radiation exposure in one year. In a bone scintigraphy, the radiation exposure of 2.9 milli Sievert corresponds to a natural radiation of about one and a half years. If there is an indication for a scintigraphy, the advantages usually outweigh the minor risks associated with radiation exposure.
The radioactive substances used in a scintigraphy all decay very quickly and therefore do not burden the body and fellow human beings for long. The half-life is the time it takes for half of a radioactive substance to decay. The most common element used in scintigraphy, technetium, has a physical half-life of 6 hours.
However, when used in the human body, the radioactive particles are also excreted via the kidneys, so that the so-called effective half-life is only two to three hours. This means that three hours at the latest after the injection of the radioactivity, the radiation has already dropped to half of its original value. After a maximum of 6 hours, only a quarter is left and so on. At the latest then, no significant radiation is emitted from the body.
Costs of a scintigraphy
If a doctor prescribes a scintigraphy of any kind and it is performed, it is a standard service of all public and private health insurance companies. This means that the costs are fully covered. For example, the costs for a thyroid scintigraphy amount to 20 to 50 Euros.
The scintigraphy is used to record a wide variety of organ diseases and can be used in many different ways. For example, it has become very important in tumor diagnostics and in the detection of inflammatory processes. In the context of thyroid diagnostics, scintigraphy is primarily used to detect hyper- and hypofunction as well as “hot and cold nodules” (thyroid cysts, tumors, autonomous areas, etc.).
Skeletal scintigraphy allows the detection or exclusion of bone tumors or bone metastases, especially in the course of tumor diagnostics, but also the presentation of inflammatory diseases of bones and joints as well as existing bone fractures. A possible loosening or infection of lying joint prostheses can also be detected. Within the scope of kidney diagnostics, scintigraphy is used primarily to assess kidney function (excretion capacity) and renal blood flow, so that narrowing of the renal artery can certainly be detected as a cause of chronic high blood pressure.
Furthermore, scintigraphic examinations of the lung are also possible, whereby these are mainly used to examine pulmonary perfusion (perfusion scintigraphy) and pulmonary ventilation (ventilation scintigraphy).Both procedures are generally used to diagnose pulmonary embolism (occlusion of a pulmonary artery with a blood clot). In cardiac diagnostics, too, the preparation of a cardiac scintigram can be helpful and provide information about the blood flow in the heart if a narrowing of coronary vessels or heart attacks are suspected. In all the areas of application mentioned here, however, the scintigraphy can also be used for monitoring the progress of the procedure or even for postoperative diagnostics.
