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| Why would my physician order this procedure |
To help your physician assess the presence, location, extent and severity of coronary heart disease. |
| Exam preparation |
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You may have only clear liquids 4 hours prior to each image day. |
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Just in case your stress exam might be converted to a pharmacological stress procedure, we highly recommend no caffeine type products 12 hours prior to each image day. |
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Wear comfortable clothes for your exercise period |
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No exercise the morning of your rest exam |
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We recommend exercise patients be off the following medications prior to exercise time:
- Beta-blockers (Inderal, Tenormin, Lopressor, or Corgard) for 24-48 hours prior
- Nitroglycerine for at least 1 hour
- Long lasting nitrates for at least 4 hours
(Contact your physician prior to discontinuing any cardiac medication on your own.) |
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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 |
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Stress Portion
The stress portion of your exam will take place in the Special Procedures cardiac lab. The cardiac technician will explain the treadmill 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 hook you up to their EKG equipment for monitoring during the treadmill exam. You will be exercised under appropriate monitoring conditions while your physician or a cardiologist assesses your progress.
Close to the end of your exercise, 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. 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. |
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Rest Portion
The rest portion will involve you coming straight to the Nuclear Medicine department, receiving an IV injection of the same radiopharmaceutical with the same free time of 30 – 60 minutes before the imaging.
Rest images are acquired exactly the same as the stress images. |
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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 (treadmill) 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 alittle 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 |
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