131Iodine or 123Iodine-MIBG Cardiac Scan

PREPARATION:         

• Fasting is not necessary.
• The use of beverages and foods containing caffeine (e.g., coffee, chocolate, mate tea, black tea, green tea, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Guarana, chocolate cake, coffee candy, etc.) should be withheld 24 hours before therapy.
• For the medication not to be absorbed by the patient’s thyroid gland, it is important to block it with iodine-containing substances, so the patient will be advised to take potassium iodide syrup or Lugol’s a few days before and after the injection of radioactive material, as follows:

For adults, we recommend:

ü 1 teaspoon of potassium iodide syrup (three times a day) or 1 drop/kg weight of Lugol’s 1% solution (divided into twice-daily doses), for no more than 40 total drops, 3 days before and 2 to 3 days after the injection of the radioactive material.

For children, we recommend:

• Newborns = 16 mg of Potassium Iodide (1 ml of Potassium Iodide syrup, 1 time a day, one day before the exam);
• Between 1 month old and 3 years old = 32 mg of Potassium Iodide (0.5 ml of Potassium Iodide syrup, three times a day, two days before and two days after tracer injection);
• From 3 to 13 years old = 65 mg of Potassium Iodide (1 ml of Potassium Iodide, three times a day, two days before and two days after the tracer injection);
• Over 13 years of age = 130 to 200 mg of Potassium Iodide (1 teaspoon or 5 mi of Potassium Iodide syrup, two to three times a day, two days before and two days after the injection of the tracer) or 1 drop/kg of the child’s weight of Lugol’s 1% solution, divided into twice a day, a maximum of 40 drops.
• Patients who have already had surgical removal of the thyroid gland do not need blocking.
• Some medications must be withheld for this exam, but only with permission from the referring physician. Check the list with our call center.
• This test should not be performed on pregnant or breastfeeding women.

HOW IS THE EXAM PERFORMED?

After filling out the registration form at the reception desk, the patient will undergo a brief clinical interview to check their data and exam preparations and then will be sent to the injection room. The drug will be injected into a vein, preferably one from the forearm. (Before and after the injection of this drug, we will measure blood pressure). Fifteen minutes after the end of the injection, the patient will be sent to the examination room for image acquisition, where they will be positioned on the device’s gurney, and should lie motionless for about 20 to 30 minutes. Complementary tomographic images may be requested by the nuclear medicine physician.

Then, the patient will be discharged and must return to the clinic in 4 hours for another image acquisition. The duration of these images is around 30 to 40 minutes. At the end of this procedure, the patient will be released after evaluation of the images by the nuclear medicine physician. Eventually, the nuclear physician may request 24-hour imaging, in which case the patient will be instructed to return the next day.

                                                                                                                OE 038 – Version:  02/2024 

                                                                                                                             Made by: DIMEN Technical Team