Nonradioactive Pharmaceuticals in Nuclear Medicine

Pharmaceutical	Indication	Adult Dose
Acetazolamide (Diamox)	Brain perfusion	1 g in 10 mL sterile water, IV over 2 min for adults (14 mg/kg for children) 10–20 min before injecting tracer
Adenosine (Adenocard)	Cardiac stress	140 mcg/kg per min for 4–6 min via infusion pump Radiopharmaceutical give at 3–4 minutes
Bethanechol (Urecholine)	Gastric emptying	2.5–5 mg subcutaneously
Captopril (Capoten)	Renovascular hypertension evaluation	25–50 mg orally before study
Cholecystokinin (Sincalide or Kinevac)	Hepatobiliary imaging	0.02 mcg/kg in 10 mL saline IV over 3–60 min
Cimetidine (Tagamet)	Meckel diverticulum imaging	Adult 300 mg four times daily, pediatric 20 mg/kg in 20 mL saline IV over 20 min
Dipyridamole (Persantine)	Cardiac stress	0.56 mg/kg IV over 4–5 min via infusion pump Radiopharmaceutical given at 3–5 minutes
Dobutamine (Dobutrex)	Cardiac stress	Incremental IV infusion starting at 5–10 mcg/kg/min, and increased at 3-minute intervals to 20, 30, and 40 mcg/kg/min Radiopharmaceutical IV injection at end of infusion or when stress endpoint is reached
Enalaprilat (Vasotec IV)	Renovascular hypertension evaluation	0.04 mg/kg in 10 mL saline IV over 3–5 min, maximum dose 2.5 mg
Furosemide (Lasix)	Renal imaging	Adult 20–40 mg, pediatric 1.0 mg/kg given IV over 1–2 min
Glucagon	Meckel diverticulum imaging	Adult 0.5 mg, pediatric 5 mcg/kg given IV or IM
Morphine (Astramorph, Duramorph)	Hepatobiliary imaging	0.04 mg/kg diluted in 10 mL saline, IV over 3–5 min (range, 2.0–4.5 mg)
Pentagastrin (Peptavlon)	Meckel diverticulum imaging	6 mcg/kg 5–15 min before study
Phenobarbital (Luminal)	Hepatobiliary imaging	5 mg/kg per day for 5 days
Regadenoson (Lexiscan)	Cardiac stress	Prepackaged 400 mcg in 5 mL injected as a bolus over 10 sec No infusion pump needed Radiopharmaceutical injection follows in 10–20 sec