CLINICAL DEPARTMENTS

Nuclear Medicine (Klerksdorp Hospital)

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Contact Info:

018 406 4818

For scan request and bookings, please contact the following numbers at K/T Nuclear Medicine: 018 406 4756/(4819)

Pioneering precision in healthcare – Welcome to the Nuclear Medicine Department at Klerksdorp/Tshepong Hospital Complex!

Nuclear Medicine is a medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of various medical conditions using ‘radioisotopes’ usually administered IV in the form of radiopharmaceuticals. It traces physiological/molecular processes and is very useful in the early detection of a wide range of pathological conditions, and in disease monitoring, especially in oncology. Its role in therapy likewise continues to expand.  The Nuclear Medicine Department of K/T Hospital Complex is the first of its kind in the public sector of the province and caters for the needs of North West patients and also partner with Wits Nuclear Medicine in Johannesburg for services not yet rendered while service expansion gradually occurs.

Department Head:

Dr Akinwale Ayeni

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Medical Officer

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Consultant

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Medical Physicist

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Nuclear Medicine Radiographer

Academic Activities

KT Nuclear Medicine staff members participate in weekly online academic meetings as part of Wits Nuclear Medicine academic circuit:

Tuesdays 8 – 9am Thursdays 8 – 9am (Thyroid cancer MDT); 9 – 10am

Onsite academic meetings take place in the department at Klerksdorp Hospital every last Friday of the month.

The department is also involved in multidisciplinary team meetings for both Klerksdorp and Tshepong Hospitals.

Services

The clinical department started operating on the 10th of July 2023 and has since completed diverse imaging procedures in several body systems. Therapy with radioactive iodine has also commenced.

An estimate of 80-100 medical procedures is carried out monthly. Thyroid Cancer Clinic: Tuesdays, weekly.

These services are being run by a Nuclear Medicine Specialist, working together with other committed medical professionals.

Available equipment and resources ensure that our Nuclear Medicine department have the capability to provide the following:

Imaging

    • Skeletal (‘Bone scans’ – oncology and non-oncology)
    • Nephro-urinary (‘Renal scans’: differential kidney function, VUR)
    • Endocrine/Neuroendocrine (‘Thyroid and parathyroid scans’, MIBG scans, Whole body iodine)
    • Cardiovascular (Myocardial Perfusion Imaging , ‘MUGA scans’,)
    • Respiratory (‘V/Q scans’ for PE)
    • Gastrointestinal (‘Milk scans’, ‘GI bleeds’, ‘Gastric emptying’)
    • Lymphatic (‘Sentinel node mapping’, ‘Lymphoscintigraphy’)
    • Hepatobiliary (‘HIDA scans’: cholecystitis, paediatric hyperbilirubinaemia, biliary leaks)
    • Central Nervous System (‘Brain perfusion scan’)

Therapy: Benign and malignant thyroid disease (hyperthyroidism, thyroid cancer) – iodine therapy.

Other nuclear medicine procedures: Nuclear medicine imaging and therapeutic procedures not listed under our current clinical service may necessitate referrals to CHBAH or CMJAH at Wits, Johannesburg. This will be advised during booking. As a general guide, PET/CT scans, and therapeutic procedures (except radioiodine ablation of benign thyroid diseases) still require referrals to Gauteng until scale up of these services occur.

Referral: Nuclear Medicine provides specialized services, therefore referrals to the department is via regional/provincial/tertiary hospitals. This will follow the referral pattern as outlined in the North West Provincial referral policy.

Technology

Consists essentially of a modern SPECT Gamma Camera with an adequately equipped Type B ‘Hot laboratory’.

PATIENT SERVICES

Nuclear Medicine Building is located at Klerksdorp Hospital, directly behind Radiation Oncology Building.

For scan request and bookings, please contact the following numbers at K/T Nuclear Medicine: 018 406 4756/(4819)

Email address for correspondence, if applicable: aayeni@nwpg.gov.za, nuclearmedkthc@gmail.com .