Scintimammography is a diagnostic imaging procedure that involves injection of a small amount of radioactive material (a radioisotope) into a vein, followed by mammography.
The injected radioisotope accumulates in certain parts of the body, including diseased areas of the breast. Images resulting from the procedure are called a scintimammogram.
The purpose of scintimammography of the breast is to help determine the nature of breast abnormalities that had been discovered by either a clinical breast examination or standard mammogram. A nuclear medicine physician (a doctor specializing in the use of radioisotopes for the diagnosis and treatment of disease) or a radiologist (a doctor specializing in the use of radiation for the diagnosis of disease) reads and interprets the scintimammogram to determine the likely nature of areas of disease in the breast. |