Breast Scintigraphy

Breast scintigraphy enables the surgeon to sample specific lymph nodes to determine whether cancer has spread beyond the breast.

In certain circumstances, breast scintigraphy can help the radiologist determine the difference between a benign or a malignant lesion.

• A breast scintigraphy is performed in nuclear medicine.
• Radioactive material is injected around the breast cancer or around the breast cancer biopsy site.
• The patient lies down on a table while images similar to X-ray pictures are taken of the breast cancer site.
• The patient is then taken to the operating room where a surgeon injects about a teaspoon of blue dye around the breast cancer or biopsy site to assist in localizing the sentinel node.
• A gamma probe will also be used to locate the targeted sentinel lymph node.