Radionuclides: Nuclear medicine has a hot topic
Short-lived radionuclides and their uses in studying the anatomy and functioning of the heart are one of the hottest topics in nuclear medicine these days.
These studies have gone on for several years (JAMAMedical News204:21 [April 29] 1968), but have mushroomed recently. By and large, the radionuclide of choice has been technetium 99m and the investigators use scintillation cameras which, along with the short-lived radionuclides, helped to revolutionize nuclear medicine a few years ago. But changes in techniques and instrumentation occur almost daily, and the auxiliary equipment now usually includes computers, as shown by various reports at the recent Los Angeles meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine covered by associate editor Gail McBride.
But can't the same information be obtained from selective contrast angiocardiography and cardiac catheterization? "Yes," say the nuclear medicine people. "To be sure, contrast angiocardiography