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Introduction
Nuclear cardiology refers to cardiac diagnostic tests performed with radioactive substances. These tests provide a wide range of information about the heart including the contractility of the heart, the amount of blood supply to the heart and whether parts of the heart muscle are alive or dead. Information from these tests may be very important in making decisions about patient management e.g. whether or not heart surgery should be undertaken. All tests are performed by the St Vincent’s department of nuclear medicine in liaison with the department of cardiology.
Department of Nuclear Medicine
Staff
Dr. Judith Freund - Director
A/Professor Nicholas Pocock
Dr. Edwin Szeto
There are regular reporting sessions with Dr. Neville Sammel, Cardiologist, and advanced trainees from the department of cardiology.
NUCLEAR CARDIOLOGY TESTS
SESTAMIBI SCANS
Scanning with technetium-99m sestamibi provides information about the
amount and distribution of blood reaching the myocardium (heart muscle). The test also shows how well the heart is contracting. It is most frequently used to diagnose coronary artery disease. It may also be ordered in patients with known coronary disease to determine which part of the myocardium is being starved of blood. Sestamibi can be injected during chest pain e.g. patients presenting to the emergency department It is more commonly performed with exercise or pharmacological stress i.e. dipyridamole(Persantin) or dobutamine. Imaging with sestamibi has replaced thallium scans.
GATED HEART POOL SCANS
This is a test to assess the performance of the left ventricle using the radioisotope technetium -99m. It is the most accurate available method. Gated heart pool scans are usually performed when there is uncertainty about information from more commonly performed tests e.g. echocardiography, sestamibi scan.
FDG METABOLIC SCANS
FDG (fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose) metabolic scans may be performed on patients with known coronary artery disease and poor heart muscle contractility. They are performed in conjunction with a sestamibi scan. The test provides information as to whether certain parts of the myocardium are still alive
and may start contracting if coronary bypass surgery or angioplasty is undertaken.
OTHER SCANS
The radioisotope technetium-99m pyrophosphate is taken up by dead myocardial tissue and is sometimes used to confirm the presence of a recent myocardial infarction (heart attack).
The radioisotope gallium is taken up by areas of inflammation and is occasionally ordered to identify infection in the heart e.g. with infective endocarditis.
Ordering nuclear cardiology scans
Nuclear cardiology scans may be booked through:
Dept of Nuclear Medicine at St. Vincent’s Clinic - phone 8382 6560
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