Salem Hospital: Imaging Procedures Patient Information: ECT Pharmacological Stress and Rest Myocardial Scan

Imaging Procedures - Patient Information

ECT Pharmacological Stress and Rest Myocardial Scan

Why would my physician order this procedure

To help your physician assess the presence, location, extent and severity of coronary heart disease.

A pharmaceological stress exam is used as an alternative to an exercise heart-imaging test.

It is substituted for those patients who are unable to achieve a maximum level of exercise on the treadmill.

Exam preparation
	You may have only clear liquids for 4 hours prior to each exam day.
	No caffeine type products for 12 hours prior to each exam day.
	No exercise the morning of your rest exam.
	We recommend patients be off the following medications prior to pharmacological stress time: All Xanthine derivatives (theophylline, dipyridamole or aminophylline) for 24 hours Contact your physician prior to discontinuing any cardiac medication on your own.
	To perform this exam, we must give you a small amount of radioactive materials. Tell your doctor if you might be pregnant, if you are pregnant, or if you are a nursing mother.

What to expect
	Stress Portion The stress portion of your exam will take place in the Special Procedures cardiac lab. The cardiac technician will explain the stress portion of the procedure prior to starting the exam. An intravenous (IV) line will be placed preferably in your left arm. The cardiac technician will connect you to their EKG equipment for monitoring during the stress exam. You will be pharmacologically stressed under appropriate monitoring conditions, while your physician or a cardiologist assesses your progress. Close to the end of your infusion, you will be given a radiopharmacetical reagent through your IV line. After stabilization you will have about 30-60 minutes of free time, before images of your heart will be acquired in the Nuclear Medicine Department. You may eat or drink during this interval. Your heart images will be acquired with you lying flat on our scanning bed with our cameras rotating around your chest area. These images will take about 15 – 30 minutes.
	Rest Portion The rest portion will involve you returning to the Nuclear Medicine department, receiving an IV injection of the same radiopharmaceutical reagent used during your stress images with the same free time of 30 – 60 minutes before the imaging. Rest images are acquired exactly the same as the stress images.
	If you have any technical questions specific to this procedure, please don’t hesitate to ask the technologist at dosing time. All clinical questions should be directed to your physician. A report will be sent to your ordering physician.

How long will it take

Our standard protocol is for a 2-day test.

The total time for your stress day is about 90 minutes, with a 30-minute free time between the treadmill test and image time.

The total time for the rest day is a little over 60 minutes.

There is about a 30-minute free time between radiopharmaceutical injection and images time.

Possible complications or side effects

Since we will be stressing your heart, a physician will be present during the stress portion of your exam.

Radiation risk statement

Studies of the health effects of radiation have shown that high doses of radiation can cause cancer. However, this hospital procedure requires that we inject you with a very low level of radioactive material.

The risk from lower doses of radiation, such as you will receive during this exam, is uncertain. Most scientists believe that the risk is very small. Certainly, the benefits received from the exam far outweigh the small risk associated with this procedure