Gallium Scan

Total Body Scan

Test Overview

A gallium scan is a nuclear medicine test that uses a special camera to take pictures of specific tissues in the body after a radioactive tracer (radionuclide or radioisotope) makes them visible. Each type of tissue that may be scanned (including bones, organs, glands, and blood vessels) uses a different radioactive compound as a tracer. The radioactivity of different tracers decreases over a period of usually hours, days, or weeks. The tracer remains in the body temporarily before it is eliminated as waste, usually in the urine or stool (feces).

During a gallium scan, the tracer (radioactive gallium citrate) is injected into a vein in the arm. It travels through the bloodstream and into the body's tissues, primarily the bones, liver, intestine, and areas of tissue where inflammation or a buildup of white blood cells (WBCs) is present. It usually takes the tracer a few days to accumulate in these areas, so in most cases a scan is done at 2 days and repeated at 3 days after the tracer is injected. Areas where the tracer accumulates in higher-than-normal amounts show up as bright or "hot" spots in the pictures. The problem areas may be caused by infection, certain inflammatory diseases, or a tumour.

	Go to top of page	Go to next section
Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS	Last Updated: February 20, 2007
Medical Review:	Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine Paul D. Traughber, MD - Radiology Kenneth B. Sutherland, CD, BSc, MD, FRCPC - Diagnostic Radiology
© 1995-2008 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.