Myocardial Perfusion Imaging (MPI) Test

[InBed]

Maybe worth it to find out the state of your heart. I had one last Autumn and all good after MI and CA in 2015.

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Quick facts

An MPI test examines blood flow through your heart during exercise on a treadmill or exercise bicycle (“physical stress”) and while you rest. If you can’t exercise well, you’ll get a medicine (“chemical/pharmacologic stress”) to increase the blood flow to your heart muscle as if you were exercising.

The test uses radioactive material called tracers. Tracers mix with your blood and are taken up by your heart muscle as the blood flows through your heart arteries.

A special “gamma” camera takes pictures of your heart to show how well your heart muscle is perfused (supplied with blood)

The pictures will help your doctor see if your heart muscle is getting enough blood, or if blood flow is reduced to parts of the heart muscle because of narrowed arteries. MPI can also tell if there are areas of dead cells (scars) from a past heart attack. Some forms of MPI can also tell your doctor if portion of the heart muscle that aren’t working well after a heart attack have a chance of going back to normal if a coronary stent is place or bypass surgery is done (“viability imaging”)

The amount of radiation you get from an MPI test is small.