The new facilities of the Cleveland Clinic Department of Nuclear Medicine significantly increases our capabilities and our capacity to assist in the care of endocrinology patients. Molecular imaging techniques and targeted radioisotope therapies are some of the most specific and powerful tools available for diagnosis and treatment of these patients. Our physicians are always ready to provide personal consultations on a case by case basis.
Some of our most common requests are for evaluation of the following disorders:
- hyperthyroidism, thyroid nodules of uncertain etiology
- known or suspected thyroid cancer
- patients with biochemical evidence of hyperparathyroidism
- known or suspected neuroendocrine tumors
- suspected pheochromocytoma
Our unique strengths include:
- Same day radioiodine measurements for hyperthyroid patients - provides essential information required to treat these patients with I-131 as an outpatient in a single day, rather than requiring the patient to return for a second day for uptake measurements and treatment. The I-131 treatments for hyperthyroidism are also performed in our department. Thus, these patients may be treated in an efficient manner which is much more convenient for patients with busy schedules.
- State-of-the-Art parathyroid imaging - Using dual-isotope techniques developed in our own department, and incorporating the use of one of our three hybrid SPECT/CT cameras, which combines a nuclear imaging SPECT camera with a multislice spiral CT scanner in a single integrated machine, we are able to provide some of the most accurate parathyroid localization information that has been reported. This information is considered essential prior to minimally invasive surgery in hyperparathyroid patients.
- Fusion of anatomic and functional images - Our department has three SPECT/CT cameras which facilitate pinpoint localization of radioactive tracers use in endocrinologic imaging, including radioiodine (both I-123 and I-131 are available), Tc-99m sestamibi, I-123 MIBG for adrenal imaging, and In-111 octreotide for neuroendocrine and other somatostatin receptor imaging. Fusion of anatomic and functional images results in increased diagnostic confidence on the parts of both our interpreting physicians and our referring physicians.
Nuclear Medicine Inflammation and Infection Imaging
The new facilities of the Cleveland Clinic Department of Nuclear Medicine significantly increases our capabilities and our capacity to assist in the care of patients with known or suspected inflammatory or infectious diseases. Some of our most common requests are for evaluation of patients with fevers of unknown etiology, suspected orthopedic prosthetic infections, those with suspected vascular graft infections, and other inflammatory or infectious conditions. Molecular imaging techniques are some of the most specific and powerful tools available for diagnosis and localization of inflammatory/infectious. Our physicians are always ready to provide personal consultations on a case by case basis.
These are some of our unique strengths:
- Fusion of anatomic and functional images
- Our department has three SPECT/CT cameras which combines a nuclear imaging SPECT camera with a multislice spiral CT scanner in a single integrated machine. These hybrid instruments facilitate pinpoint localization of radioactive tracers used in inflammatory/infectious imaging, including In-111 and Tc-99m labeled leukocytes, and gallium-67 citrate.
- Our department also has three PET/CT cameras which allow accurate anatomic localization of the positron emitting radiotracer FDG (a glucose analog), which has been found to localize at sites of active inflammatory and infectious sites.
- Fusion of anatomic and functional images results in increased diagnostic confidence on the parts of both our interpreting physicians and our referring physicians.
- State of the art dual-isotope imaging of orthopedic prostheses.
- Using dual-isotope techniques developed in our own department, and incorporating the use of one of our three hybrid SPECT/CT cameras, which combines a nuclear imaging SPECT camera with a multislice spiral CT scanner in a single integrated machine, we are able to provide information that is critical in those patients with suspected prosthetic infections. This technique allows our physicians to correctly discriminate a site of active infection from leukocyte-avid normal bone marrow, which is a very common diagnostic dilemma at other nuclear medicine facilities.