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The purpose of this study is to obtain pictures of your heart, and determine how it is functioning. This will help the doctor gain information about your condition, and give appropriate treatment as required.
On arrival, we may need to check your ECG if you are suspected of having a very irregular heart rate, in which case we may not be able to perform this test.
We will give you two injections into two different veins situated in your arm or the back of the hand. These are:
1. A pyrophosphate dose to activate your red blood cells.
2. A radioactive tracer 30-45 minutes later, which will attach itself to the red cells.
The imaging will be carried out 10-30 minutes after the second injection. For this, you will be required to remove clothing and metal objects around the chest region. A gown will be provided for you to change into. You will then be asked to lie down on a couch and ECG electrodes will be placed on your chest and connected to ECG monitors. A picture of your heart will be taken with a gamma camera, which will be positioned at an angle over the chest, on the left. The camera will be close, and you will have to keep still. We will monitor your ECG closely and wait for you to be completely relaxed. Then we will start taking the picture, which will take 20-45 minutes.
If you are pregnant, or you think you might be pregnant, you need to inform your doctor or the Nuclear Medicine staff before attending your appointment. In general, exposure to radiation during pregnancy should be kept to a minimum and it may be necessary to postpone your scan. If you are breast-feeding it is advisable to feed the baby before the injection and to substitute breast-feeding with formula feeding for the first 12 hours following the injection and to express and discard any milk secreted during this period.
We would prefer that you do not bring more than one person with you. It is advisable not to have a pregnant woman or a small child with you. This is to avoid exposing them to unnecessary radiation. It is also preferable to avoid prolonged close contact (hugging a child / sitting a child on your knee for more than half an hour) for the rest of the day.
PLEASE LET NUCLEAR MEDICINE STAFF KNOW WELL IN ADVANCE IF YOU ARE TAKING ANY MINERALS, PARTICULARY MINERALS CONTAINING IRON OR IRON SUPPLEMENTS. THESE MAY INTERFERE WITH THE TEST AND YOU MAY BE ASKED TO STOP TAKING THEM.Otherwise you may eat, drink and take your medication as normal.
The needle prick from the injections may hurt a little. Doctors will be available during your stay in the department to answer any queries; we do not expect any side effects from the injections we give you.
The amount of radioactivity you receive in this study is strictly within the recommended national level. At this level, the benefit to you from gaining information about your condition outweighs the risk (negligible) of any harm associated with the radiation you will receive.
You may eat as normal. The more fluid you drink the better, as the radioactivity is passed out in the urine. No extra precautions need to be taken when passing urine.
The doctor will report on the study; the result will be sent to the doctor who requested the study.