Gallium Scan

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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 tumor.

Last updated:	January 17, 2007
Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS
Reviewed By:	Paul D. Traughber, MD - Radiology, Kenneth B. Sutherland, CD, BSc, MD, FRCPC - Diagnostic Radiology
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer