Thanks to the generosity of donors throughout the greater Greene County area, nuclear medicine services are now available at St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital. 

Nuclear medicine is a highly advanced form of diagnostic imaging that helps doctors determine how well various organs function. Using small amounts of radioactive material, a nuclear medicine scan can reveal problems ranging from bone cancers to heart disease. 

“It’s rare to have such sophisticated imaging at a critical access hospital,” said Rich Sabol, director of radiology at Good Samaritan. “We are incredibly fortunate to live and work in a community that not only wants this level of care locally, but steps up to the plate to make it available.” 

Nuclear medicine uses physics and biology to detect disease, Sabol said. Some organs use more of certain substances than others. The thyroid gland, for example, uses a lot of iodine. This fact makes it possible to find out how well the gland is working by giving the patient a small amount of radioactive iodine and then scanning to see if the thyroid gland absorbs it normally. Too much or too little iodine uptake can indicate a problem, such as hyperthyroidism or cancer.

In many types of scans, doctors look for “hot spots” and “cold spots” – places in the body or in specific organs where abnormal uptake rates may signal damage and disease. 

“A good example is a heart study,” Sabol said. “If we see a cold spot in an area of the heart muscle, it’s an indication that a coronary artery upstream may be blocked or that the patient suffered a heart attack that caused damage to that area,” Sabol said. 

Just as importantly, nuclear medicine can be used to detect developing problems before they become life-threatening.

For example, Sabol said, a nuclear cardiac stress test can help diagnose whether a patient experiencing chest pain is at risk of a heart attack. Using two scans, one before exercise and one immediately after, doctors can see if blood flow to heart muscle tissue is normal when the heart is stressed. “Cold spots” in heart muscle tissue can point to partial blockages in coronary arteries, blockages that could cause a heart attack later. 

Five main types of nuclear medicine procedures are now available at St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital:

• Cardiac stress test – as described above, testing is useful in diagnosing chest pain and can indicate narrowing of the coronary arteries. Cardiac scanning is also effective for evaluating functions such as ejection fraction, as well as the severity of heart failure.
• HIDA – hepatobiliary scans provide information about gallbladder and bile duct function.
• Gastric emptying – these studies can reveal intestinal blockages and other conditions that slow the movement of food through the digestive system.
• Bone studies – useful for detecting bone cancer, cancers that have metastasized to bone from other parts of the body, infections of the bone, and abnormal bone growth.
• Thyroid function – provides diagnostic information about conditions that affect the hormone-producing thyroid gland.

The average scan takes about an hour, Sabol said, although cardiac stress tests may take longer. The vast majority of outpatients are free to go home or to work immediately afterwards. The small amount of radioactive material decays quickly and is eliminated from the body in about 12 hours, so exposure for the patient is very low. 

“Making nuclear medicine available is another example of how we are working with the community to provide state-of-the-art services right here, close to home,” Good Samaritan Hospital President Montez Carter said. “This technology was made possible by generous donations to our Capital Campaign. Now, people who need this important diagnostic testing can receive it right here in Greene County.”

A physician’s referral is required for testing. Outpatient appointments are available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more information, call 706.453.5168. For information about St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital, visit www.stmarysgoodsam.org.