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A member asked:
Is a thyroid scan and raidioactive throid treatment the same?
7 doctors weighed in across 4 answers
No: A thyroid scan is a study that exposes you to a small amount of radiation and allows the radiologist to see images of the thyroid. A radioactive thyroid treatment is when you are given very large amounts of radiation in order to "kill" the overactive thyroid or thyroid cancer.
Answered 5/26/2014
5.5k views
No: The thyroid scan, if referred to the nuclear scan, is a diagnostic study done with three possible isotopes: i-123, i-131 (low-dose) or free tc-99m. This scan is use to characterize thyroid causes of thyrotoxicosis. Radioactive thyroid treatment with i-131 (higher dose) is use to ablate the thyroid in patients with grave's disease or multi nodular goiter as well as to treat thyroid cancer.
Answered 12/9/2013
5.5k views
No, its different: The thyroid scan is performed to make a diagnosis on the status of the thyroid gland ( hyperthyroidism, thyroid nodules, thyroiditis, evaluation of goiter.....) while the radioactive treatment is a form of therapeutic intervention to treat thyroid disease such as hyperthyroidism of thyroid cancer. The ranges of doses we use are also quite different, very low for diagnosis and high for treatment.
Answered 1/18/2014
5.4k views
No: The scan uses a different " drug" ( i123) to image the thyroid vs the "drug that is used to treat the thyroid ( i131) . The drugs have different amounts and types of radiation that are used for two different desired results
Answered 10/4/2016
5.4k views
Related Questions
A member asked:
If I get thyroid cancer, would I be able to get rid of it using radioactive treatment?
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Why would your face go numb after the radioactive treatment for thyroid cancer?
A doctor has provided 1 answer
A member asked:
Is radioactive iodine a fairly safe treatment after total thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer? I'm 42 years old.
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A member asked:
After radioactive iodine treatment is it common to need an increase in Synthroid (thyroxine) dose after all remaining thyroid tissue has been abblated?
A doctor has provided 1 answer
A member asked:
Every since my radioactive iodine treatment after thyroid cancer I have had bad acne. Could this be related? I had the treatment in june of 2010.
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