Gallium scan

Gallium-67 scan
SynonymsGallium imaging
ICD-10-PCSC?1?LZZ (planar) C?2?LZZ (tomographic)
ICD-9-CM92.18
OPS-301 code3-70c
MedlinePlus003450

A gallium scan is a type of nuclear medicine test that uses either a gallium-67 (67Ga) or gallium-68 (68Ga) radiopharmaceutical to obtain images of a specific type of tissue, or disease state of tissue. Gallium salts like gallium citrate and gallium nitrate may be used. The form of salt is not important, since it is the freely dissolved gallium ion Ga3+ which is active.[1] Both 67Ga and 68Ga salts have similar uptake mechanisms.[2] Gallium can also be used in other forms, for example 68Ga-PSMA is used for cancer imaging. The gamma emission of gallium-67 is imaged by a gamma camera, while the positron emission of gallium-68 is imaged by positron emission tomography (PET).

Gallium salts are taken up by tumors, inflammation, and both acute and chronic infection,[3][4] allowing these pathological processes to be imaged. Gallium is particularly useful in imaging osteomyelitis that involves the spine, and in imaging older and chronic infections that may be the cause of a fever of unknown origin.[5][6]

Gallium-68 DOTA scans are increasingly replacing octreotide scans (a type of indium-111 scan using octreotide as a somatostatin receptor ligand). The gallium-68 is bound to an octreotide derivative chemical such as DOTATOC and the positrons it emits are imaged by PET-CT scan. Such scans are useful in locating neuroendocrine tumors and pancreatic cancer.[7][8]

  1. ^ Treves ST (2014). Pediatric nuclear medicine and molecular imaging (4th ed.). Springer. p. 480. ISBN 9781461495512.
  2. ^ Jain SK (2017). Imaging Infections: From Bench to Bedside. Springer. p. 34. ISBN 9783319545929. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  3. ^ Verberne SJ and O. P. P. Temmerman (2017). 12 - Imaging of prosthetic joint infections Archived 21 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine - Arts, J.J. Chris. Management of Periprosthetic Joint Infections (PJIs). J. Geurts, Woodhead Publishing: 259-285.
  4. ^ Verberne SJ, Raijmakers PG, Temmerman O (2016). "The Accuracy of Imaging Techniques in the Assessment of Periprosthetic Hip Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis". The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. American Volume. 98 (19): 1638–1645. doi:10.2106/jbjs.15.00898. PMID 27707850. S2CID 9202184. Archived from the original on 16 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  5. ^ Termaat MF, Raijmakers PG, Scholten HJ, Bakker FC, Patka P, Haarman HJ (November 2005). "The accuracy of diagnostic imaging for the assessment of chronic osteomyelitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis". The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. American Volume. 87 (11): 2464–71. doi:10.2106/JBJS.D.02691 (inactive 11 November 2024). PMID 16264122. S2CID 26280068.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  6. ^ Becker W (October 1995). "The contribution of nuclear medicine to the patient with infection". European Journal of Nuclear Medicine. 22 (10): 1195–1211. doi:10.1007/BF00800606. PMID 8542906. S2CID 19293222.
  7. ^ Hofman M, Kong G, Neels O, Eu P, Hong E, Hicks R (2012). "High management impact of Ga-68 DOTATATE (GaTate) PET/CT for imaging neuroendocrine and other somatostatin expressing tumours". Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology. 56 (1): 40–47. doi:10.1111/j.1754-9485.2011.02327.x. PMID 22339744. S2CID 21843609.
  8. ^ Scott, A, Howe J (2018). "Management of Small Bowel Neuroendocrine Tumors". Journal of Oncology Practice. 14 (8): 471–482. doi:10.1200/JOP.18.00135. PMC 6091496. PMID 30096273.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: overridden setting (link)