Purpose or Case Report: Nuclear medicine, which encompasses a variety of body functions assessment, offers valuable complementary functional information to that provided by anatomic imaging. Scintigraphy is often underutilized in pediatric radiology. Thus, trainees may be less comfortable interpreting a pediatric scintigraphic study, especially when requested urgently after hours, given the varying degree of comfort reading nuclear medicine studies amongst faculty. Common pediatric scintigraphic studies encountered in this context are performed to evaluate for CSF shunt dysfunction, gastrointestinal bleeding, brain death, and Meckel’s diverticulum. Other less commonly encountered studies are done to assess for bile leak, post-renal transplant complications, and pulmonary embolism. The aim of this exhibit is to provide a brief overview of the nuclear medicine studies that may be encountered after hours to familiarize trainees with appropriate indications, imaging techniques, normal and abnormal scintigraphic findings, and pitfalls to be avoided when interpreting these studies with emphasis on the unique challenges in the pediatric population, such as the need for sedation.
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