To access how your heart is functioning. 

It helps provide your physician not only with quantitative measurements of how your heart is “pumping” blood to your body, but also how it is contracting (wall motion).

A technologist will explain the entire process to you prior to starting the exam.  He/she will also ask you some health history questions, which will help our radiologist interpret your exam.
 
The technologist will place an intravenous (IV) line in your arm.  They will draw some of your blood (less than 5 cc) through the IV line.  You will be free to go anywhere for about 30 minutes while your blood is being labeled with a radiopharmaceutical reagent. 

When your blood is ready, you will be placed flat on our scanning table while we attach some EKG leads to your chest area. The technologist will be able to use the same IV line while we reinject you with your labeled blood.

Our imaging cameras will be moved to different positions around your chest area while we perform this exam.  The cameras detect the radiopharmaceutical we give you and provide our processing equipment data, which we convert to usable information for your physician.

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 the ordering physician.

Total time in our department will be about 1 hour and 15 minutes. 

It takes about 30 minutes to prepare your blood prior to the actual camera time of 30 – 45 minutes.

No complications are expected from this procedure.

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