Related Procedures

Nuclear Medicine/Imaging

Cardiac Nuclear Imaging

Nuclear cardiology refers to a specialty of Nuclear Imaging. Nuclear cardiology is performed in most cases to evaluate the hearts functions and blood supply. It is very helpful in determining if a patient's chest pain is due to heart disease or not. We provide Nuclear Cardiology at our Encinitas and First and Laurel Imaging Centers in concert with cardiologists in our community. In order to evaluate the heart in most cases, the heart must be stressed, which can be accomplished by either exercise or medication.

In many cases, the exam begins with nuclear imaging of the heart after injecting a small amount of a radioactive substance that goes to the heart muscle.

In most cases, a cardiologist then administers a stress test using either a treadmill or drug, during which he or she monitors the patient's vital signs and EKG. The cardiologist separately interprets this part of the examination.

A nuclear medication designed to assess the heart is injected during the stress phase of the exam, and images are obtained thereafter with the patient lying on a special table next to a nuclear imaging camera.

Your IHS Radiologist will promptly review your nuclear images and issue a report to your doctor. In some cases, your doctor may also receive the images and audio report on a personal computer in his or her office.


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