What is a thyroid uptake and scan?
A thyroid uptake and scan is done to assess function and size of the thyroid gland.
What should I do to prepare for my scan?
There should be no CT contrast for four weeks prior to the study.
Stop thyroid medication IF your physician requests this. Sometimes the physician wants the patient on thyroid medication to help evaluate adequacy of the medication for treating the patient’s thyoid condition.
What will happen during a thyroid uptake and scan and how will I get my results?
If thyroid uptake is ordered, the test is a two-day study.
On the first day, the patient swallows a pill with a small amount of radioactive iodine tracer. This takes about ten minutes.
On the second day, the patient lies on a table and a radiation detection probe is placed over the neck to see how much of the radioactive tracer pill was taken up by the thyroid. The patient then goes to the imaging room, lies on a table, and a gamma camera is placed over the neck for an image. This takes about 25 minutes. The patient is then injected intravenously with a small amount of radioactive tracer and more images of the neck are obtained. This takes about 25 minutes.
If the patient is ONLY getting a thyroid scan (without uptake), it is a one-day study and will take 30 minutes.
The physician who interprets the scan will send a report to your physician, who will then share the results with you.
Radiologyinfo.org for Patients
The radiology information resource for patients. RadiologyInfo.org tells you how various X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, radiation therapy and other procedures are performed. It also addresses what you may experience and how to prepare for the exams. The website contains over 200 procedure, exam and disease descriptions covering diagnostic and interventional radiology, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy and radiation safety and is updated frequently with new information. All material on the RadiologyInfo.org website is reviewed and approved by experts in the field of radiology from the ACR and RSNA, as well as other professional radiology organizations.