nuclear stress test

[ljwhorfin]

you can see the result of the stress test immediately after. my cardiologist showed me all the pictures right after i was done w/ the test. it won't show specific arteries or anything. if they want to see if any specific arteries are partially blocked they need to do an angiogram / cather-die injection.

[onstack]

(quote -
it won't show specific arteries or anything. if they want to see if any specific arteries are partially blocked they need to do an angiogram / cather-die injection

For people with stents are you saying the test won't see the specific artery and stent? It can't tell if the stent is still okay? Do patients with stents require cateterization regularly for the rest of their lives? How often, generally?

[cupcake37]

Hi, I too was set up for the stress test with the dye, I did not do it, because I was afarid of the dye. I was reading on the maker of the dyes web site and heart palpatations were a side effect. So I just had the regular test done.
I do not know how accurate it is compared to the test with the tracer.
I have had the test without the tracer ten times.
You hear so many different stories, it is hard what to believe. I was told the test with the dye is 85% accurate, my doctor told me the one without the tracer is just as accurate. Who knows what to believe anymore.

[arlmon18]

Cupcake - I just had the nuclear stress test last Wednesday (June 28th). I didn't feel a thing with the dye - no dizziness, nausea, etc. It was just hard lying down for the 2 sets of pictures, because I woke up with a bad back that day. Also, my left hand had to be placed in back of my head - so that was a bit uncomfortable.

[luanne320]

my son had 2 stress tests just a few weeks apart. he had the first one because they saw a kink in his right coronary artery after a cath w/ stent. they wanted to see how it was under stress and he had big ekg changes and the scan showed the heart muscle wasn't getting enough blood. he was at a high risk for a heart attack, so until he had the stent put in, he was to take it easy. a week after his second stent, he had blue lips and paleness and sweating, so we went back for another scan to see how it looked. the ekg was the same as before the stent and so was the scan. so he went in for another cath (his 4th this year) to see if the stent had closed. they can't see specific arteries during the scan, it is just a general look to see if the heart muscle is getting adequate blood supply and if there is damage.

anyway, the cath revealed the stent was open but he has underdeveloped left coronary arteries. so he was put on isordil (along with the digoxin, vasotec, plavix and aspirin - has a congenital defect and had 3 open heart surgeries) but has to continue on severely restricted activities for 6 months to a year and possibly forever. this is hard for a 12 year old, but we're hoping those arteries will grow.

i hope your stress test goes well. nick did really well with it and had no problems except some leg cramping during his first test. but he has a narrowed abdominal aorta too, so that might have caused some of the cramping.