Radiology manager
In the more than 25 years I have worked in radiology, it still amazes me the number of people who have not had some form of radiologic or X-ray study done. It could be due in part to the number of types of imaging we perform such as general X-ray, CAT scan, nuclear medicine, ultrasound, and MRI. I imagine that a vast majority of people would have experienced an imaging study in one form or another.
Those patients we see who have not had the experience of visiting the radiology department sometime express trepidation, and even fear, about the imaging study the physician has ordered. General X-ray studies, like a chest or hand, are so common the study is easy to understand. CAT scans have been around long enough that, again, most people understand what they are.
Nuclear medicine (imaging techniques that use radioactive substances to detect and treat disease) is the area of imaging where we receive the most questions and patient concern.
A common nuclear medicine procedure that we perform on a regular basis is the hepatobiliary scan or gallbladder scan. The hepatobiliary scan is performed when a physician suspects gallbladder disease and other tests have been inconclusive, such as an ultrasound. The hepatobiliary scan will reveal if the gallbladder is functioning correctly, unlike an ultrasound that shows the anatomy, and whether there are stones, sludge, thickened walls, or enlargement of the bile ducts.
All or any of these signs indicate gallbladder disease. If none of these signs is present, there is still a possibility that the gallbladder is diseased and is not functioning correctly. At this point, the physician may order a hepatobiliary scan to check the function of the gallbladder.
In the next column, I will explain in detail how a nuclear medicine study is performed and what the patient can expect.