Nuclear medicine can image and/or show the function of a variety of organs and body parts to diagnose a number of medical conditions including:
Abdomen (example given, to check for gastrointestinal bleeding)
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Brain (e.g., to look for tumors or aneurysms (blood vessel disease) or evaluate stroke)
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Blood (e.g., to test for various blood cell disorders)
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Breast (e.g., to image breast cancers)
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Hepatobiliary system (e.g., to check gallbladder and bile duct function)
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Heart (e.g., to look for coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, valve disease or heart attack; to detect heart transplant rejection; check the effectiveness of bypass surgery; to select patients for angioplasty or bypass surgery)
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Kidneys (e.g., to check renal function; to detect renal tumors; to test for renal transplant rejection)
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Liver/spleen (e.g., to check for cirrhosis or metastatic cancer)
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Lung (e.g., to check for pulmonary embolism (blood clot), check for lung transplant rejection or test for smoke inhalation injury in burn patients)
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Lymphatic system (e.g., to detect if cancer has spread to the lymph nodes)
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Skeletal system (e.g., to check for metastatic cancer or to test for hidden bone trauma in sports injuries)
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Stomach (e.g., to check for stomach function and to confirm ulcers or cancer)
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Thyroid and parathyroid (e.g., to check for tumor or abnormal function)
