First Pass Wall Motion and Exercise Myocardial Perfusion

Information for our Nuclear Medicine Patients

* Inform your physician if you are pregnant or breast-feeding.

Overview

This test evaluates ventricular wall motion and ejection fraction.

Indications

Coronary artery disease diagnosis

Right ventricular function evaluation

Left to right intracardiac shunts detection and quantification

First Pass Wall Motion and Exercise Myocardial Perfusion

An Exercise Myocardial Perfusion and First Pass Wall Motion study involves the use of a small amount of radioactive material. The level of radioactivity used is extremely low and has no side effects.

You will be positioned next to a special detector called a gamma camera. The camera does not produce any radiation. It will be placed close to the part of your body being imaged.

(Myocardial Perfusion Images)

Patient Preparation

You cannot eat or drink for 4 hours before the study.

Procedure

A small amount of radioactive material, thallium and/or technetium will be injected into a vein in your arm to provide pictures of your heart both at rest and following exercise on a treadmill. A physician will supervise the exercise test. The main pictures of the heart, which determine blood flow to the heart, (myocardial perfusion) will be taken at rest and following treadmill exercise. For the imaging procedure you will lie under a camera for 15 to 20 minutes. The images are processed using computer analysis and provide three-dimensional information concerning the blood flow to the heart muscle at rest and during exercise. The camera does not emit any radiation.

Pictures of how the heart functions during exercise will be obtained while walking on the treadmill as the isotope is given to you. The technologist and doctor will explain how this is done.

The entire procedure takes between 2-3 hours. In some cases, a separate set of images 4 or 24 hours later may be necessary. In case you do not reach an adequate heart rate during the study, the cardiologist may substitute a drug (Persantine or Adenosine) as a pharmacological form of stress to mimic exercise. You will be notified if this substitution is appropriate for you and it will be done with your informed consent.

Further Information

Contact Terre Haute Medical Laboratory Nuclear Medicine, 812.238.7542