PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Betti, Francesca
AU  - Antonacci, Luca
AU  - Volterrani, Duccio
TI  - Artifact from <sup>131</sup>I contaminated mask in post-radioiodine therapy scintigraphy
AID  - 10.2967/jnmt.121.262438
DP  - 2021 Jul 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
PG  - jnmt.121.262438
4099  - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/early/2021/07/30/jnmt.121.262438.short
4100  - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/early/2021/07/30/jnmt.121.262438.full
AB  - An occurrence of an artifact due to contamination is reported. A patient wearing the mandatory face mask because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic underwent post-radioiodine therapy scintigraphy. The spot view of the neck showed an area of intense iodine uptake with an unusual appearance. Suspecting a possible artifact due to iodine contamination, the patient was given a new mask to wear and the scan was repeated. Results. The subsequent images revealed that the previously detected hotspot was caused by mask contamination. Conclusions. This finding has led to updating the scan procedure for post-therapy scintigraphy by replacing the patients’ masks before the scan acquisition.