What Is a Sestamibi Scan?
A sestamibi scan is a nuclear medicine procedure done for patients with disorders of the parathyroid glands. It is not a diagnostic study or a confirmatory test for the presence of hyperparathyroidism. It is rather done to distinguish or localize the affected gland in a patient already diagnosed with the disease. Parathyroid glands are four small glands located in the neck and behind the thyroid gland. These glands regulate the level of calcium in the blood for the proper functioning of muscles and nerves. The parathyroid glands normally monitor the amount of calcium circulating in the blood and when the calcium level goes down, the glands release the parathyroid hormones (PTH), which stimulate the bones to produce more calcium.
