Striascan - patient leaflet, side effects, dosage

Patient leaflet - Striascan

B. PACKAGE LEAFLET

Package leaflet: Information for the patient

Striascan 74 MBq/mL solution for injection ioflupane (123I)

Read all of this leaflet carefully before you are given this medicine because it contains important information for you.

– Keep this leaflet. You may need to read it again.
– If you have any further questions, ask your nuclear medicine doctor who will supervise the procedure.
– If you get any side effects, talk to your nuclear medicine doctor. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. See section 4.

What is in this leaflet

1. What Striascan is and what it is used for
2. What you need to know before Striascan is used
3. How Striascan is used
4. Possible side effects
5. How Striascan is stored
6. Contents of the pack and other information

1. What Striascan is and what it is used for

This medicine is a radiopharmaceutical product for diagnostic use only.

Striascan contains the active substance ioflupane (123I) which is used to help identify (diagnose) conditions in the brain. It belongs to a group of medicines called “radiopharmaceuticals”, which contain a small amount of radioactivity.

When a radiopharmaceutical is injected, it collects in a specific organ or area of the body for a short time.
Because it contains a small amount of radioactivity it can be detected from outside the body using special cameras.
A picture, known as a scan, can be taken. This scan will show exactly where the radioactivity is inside the organ and the body. This can give the doctor valuable information about how that organ is working.

Striascan is used only to identify illness. When this medicine is injected into a patient, it is carried around the body in the blood and collects in a small area of your brain. Changes in this area of the brain occur in:

parkinsonism (including Parkinson’s disease) and
dementia with Lewy bodies.

A scan will give your doctor information about any changes in this area of your brain. Your doctor may feel that the scan would help in finding out more about your condition and deciding on possible treatment.

When Striascan is used, you are exposed to small amounts of radioactivity. This exposure is less than in some types of X-ray investigation. Your doctor and the nuclear medicine doctor have considered that the clinical benefit of this procedure with the radiopharmaceutical outweighs the risk of being exposed to these small amounts of radiation.

2. What you need to know before Striascan is used

Striascan must not be used

if you are allergic to ioflupane or any of the other ingredients of this medicine (listed in section 6)
if you are pregnant.

Warnings and precautions

Talk to your nuclear medicine doctor before using this medicine if you have moderate or severe problems with your kidneys or liver.

Before administration of Striascan you should d rink plenty of water before the start of the examination in order to urinate as often as possible during the first hours after the study.

Children and adolescents

Striascan is not recommended for children and adolescents aged 0 to 18 years.

Other medicines and Striascan

Tell your nuclear medicine doctor if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines.

Some medicines or substances can affect the way that this medicine works.

These include:

bupropion (used to treat depression (sadness))
benzatropine (used to treat Parkinson’s disease)
mazindol (reduces appetite, as a means to treat obesity)
sertraline (used to treat depression (sadness))
methylphenidate (used to treat hyperactivity in children and narcolepsy (excessive sleepiness))
phentermine (reduces appetite, as a means to treat obesity)
amfetamine (used to treat hyperactivity in children and narcolepsy (excessive sleepiness); also a drug of abuse)
cocaine (sometimes used as an anaesthetic for nose surgery; also a drug of abuse)

Some medicines may reduce the quality of the picture obtained. The doctor may ask you to stop taking them for a short time before you receive Striascan.

Pregnancy and breast-feeding

If you are pregnant or breast-feeding, think you may be pregnant or are planning to have a baby, ask your nuclear medicine doctor for advice before you are given this medicine.

You must inform the nuclear medicine doctor before the administration of Striascan if there is a possibility you might be pregnant, if you have missed your period or if you are breast-feeding. When in doubt, it is important to consult your nuclear medicine doctor who will supervise the procedure.

If you are pregnant, do not use Striascan. This is because the child may receive some of the radioactivity. Alternative techniques which do not involve radioactivity should be considered.

If you are breast-feeding, your nuclear medicine doctor may delay the use of this product or ask you to stop breast-feeding. It is not known whether ioflupane (123I) you are given is passed into breast milk.

You should not breast-feed your child for 3 days after this product is given.
Instead use formula feed for your child. Express your breast milk regularly and throw away any

breast milk you have expressed.

You will need to continue to do this for 3 days, until the radioactivity is no longer in your body.

Driving and using machines

It is considered unlikely that Striascan will affect your ability to drive or to use machines.

Striascan contains alcohol ( ethanol) 5 % by volume. Each dose contains up to 197 mg alcohol. This is about the same as 5 mL beer, or 2 mL wine. This is harmful for those suffering from alcoholism and needs to be taken into account in pregnant or breastfeeding women, children and high-risk groups such as patients with liver disease or epilepsy. Tell your doctor if any of these apply to you.

This medicine contains less than 1 mmol sodium (23 mg) per vial, that is to say essentially ‘sodium-free’.

3. How Striascan is used

There are strict laws on the use, handling and disposal of radioactivity. Striascan will always be used in a hospital or a similar place. It will only be handled and given to you by people who are trained and qualified to use it safely. They should tell you anything you need to do for the safe use of this medicine. The nuclear medicine doctor supervising the procedure will decide on the quantity of Striascan to be used in your case. It will be the smallest quantity necessary to get the desired information.

The quantity to be administered usually recommended for an adult ranges from 110 to 185 MBq (megabecquerel or MBq, the unit used to measure radioactivity).

Administration of Striascan and conduct of the procedure

Before you receive Striascan, your nuclear medicine doctor will ask you to take some tablets or liquid that contain iodine. These stop the radioactivity building-up in your thyroid gland. It is important that you take the tablets or liquid as the doctor tells you.

Striascan is given to you as an injection, usually into a vein in your arm. A single injection is enough.

Duration of the procedure

The camera pictures are usually taken 3 to 6 hours after the injection of this product. Your nuclear medicine doctor will inform you about the usual duration of the procedure.

After administration of Striascan, you should urinate frequently in order to eliminate the product from your body.

The nuclear medicine doctor will inform you if you need to take any special precautions after receiving this medicine. Contact your nuclear medicine doctor if you have any questions.

If you are given more Striascan than you should

Since this product is given by a doctor under controlled conditions, it is unlikely that you will get an overdose. Your nuclear medicine doctor will suggest that you drink plenty of fluids to help the body get rid of the medicine. You will need to be careful with the water (urine) that you pass – your doctor will tell you what to do. This is normal practice with medicines like Striascan. Any ioflupane (123I) which remains in your body will naturally lose its radioactivity.

If you have any further questions on the use of this medicine, ask your nuclear medicine doctor who supervises the procedure.

4. Possible side effects

Like all medicines, this medicine can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.

The frequency of side effects is:

Common: may affect up to 1 in 10 people

– Headache

Uncommon: may affect up to 1 in 100 people

– Increased appetite
– Dizziness
– Taste disturbance
– Nausea
– Dry mouth
– Vertigo
– A brief irritating feeling similar to ants crawling over your skin (formication)
– Intense pain (or burning sensation) at the injection site. This has been reported among patients receiving this product into a small vein.

Not known: frequency cannot be estimated from the available data.

– Hypersensitivity (allergic)
– Shortness of breath
– Redness of the skin
– Itching
– Rash
– Hives (urticaria)
– Excessive sweating
– Vomiting
– Low blood pressure
– Feeling hot.

This radiopharmaceutical will deliver low amounts of ionising radiation associated with the least risk of cancer and hereditary abnormalities.

Reporting of side effects

If you get any side effects, talk to your nuclear medicine doctor. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. You can also report side effects directly via the national reporting system listed in

By reporting side effects you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine.

5. How Striascan is stored

You will not have to store this medicine. This medicine is stored under the responsibility of the specialist in appropriate premises. Storage of radiopharmaceuticals will be in accordance with national regulation on radioactive materials.

The following information is intended for the specialist only:

Do not store above 25°C.
Do not freeze.

Do not use this medicine after the expiry date which is stated on the labels after EXP. Hospital staff will ensure that the product is stored and thrown away correctly and not used after the expiry date stated on the label.

6. Contents of the pack and other information

What Striascan contains

– The active substance is ioflupane (123I).

Each mL of solution contains 74 MBq of ioflupane (123I) at reference time.

– The other ingredients are acetic acid, glacial (E 260); sodium acetate trihydrate (E 262), ethanol, anhydrous (E 1510); phosphoric acid, concentrated (E 338) and water for injections.

What Striascan looks like and contents of the pack

Striascan is a colourless solution for injection, supplied in a single amber 15 mL glass vial sealed with a rubber closure and metal overseal.

Pack size: 1 vial containing 2.5 mL or 5 mL.

Marketing Authorisation Holder and Manufacturer

CIS bio international

RN 306 – Saclay

B.P. 32

F-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex

FRANCE

This leaflet was last revised in {MM/YYYY }.

Detailed information on this medicine is available on the European Medicines Agency web site:

This leaflet is available in all EU/EEA languages on the European Medicines Agency website.

The following information is intended for healthcare professionals only:

The complete Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) of Striascan is provided as a separate document in the product packaging, with the objective to provide healthcare professionals with other additional scientific and practical information about the administration and use of this radiopharmaceutical.

Please refer to the SmPc.