Case Study #2

Dual Parathyroid/Rest Cardiac Study
This 72 year old male was referred to our facility for myocardial perfusion imaging. It was noted that this patient was also scheduled to have a nuclear parathyroid imaging study at our facility the following week. For convenience of the patient, we decided to forego the usual MPI protocol (using Myoview) and use Cardiolite so that we could perform both the parathyroid and resting cardiac images on the same day.

The patient was injected with Cardiolite and the initial SPECT imaging of the neck done immediately. Approximately 1 hour post-injection, the Resting SPECT cardiac study was performed. At 2 ½ hours post-injection, the delayed SPECT imaging of the neck was performed.

Results of the parathyroid scan were positive for parathyroid adenoma with increased uptake seen inferior to the left lower lobe of the thyroid.
Results of the cardiac study were negative for ischemia, with a mild fixed inferior defect (probably attenuation artifact).

This study shows the importance of foresight of the technologist with regards to:
- convenience of the patient.
- time saved.
- cost-effectiveness.
- important diagnostic information yielded using only 1 injection.