Hi Everybody. Its great to see lots of differing opinions. I am a 53 year old with a stent after the discovery of blocked Artery. the procedure went well despite some pain on my behalf. However I had some discomfort in larynx and top of the chest area... not really angina. Having still got this now and again after a month they put me in for a Nuclear Myo cardial perfusion scan. It might have something to do with my brochiastisis ( only minor) . My scan is a week tomorrow and I am scared after reading the leaflet about the Radiation. I have had a CT scan about 6 months ago and plenty of x rays. I am certain that my thoracic and cardiac specialists don't communicate and if I ,for want of a better word , "Nuke" myself for no reason I'm not sure I could handle it.
Has anybody else had this dilemma before? Should I cancel it? and do other people find it difficult to notice the difference between lung problems and heart problems?
Looking forward to hearing from people . One of those dilemmas!!!
Kind regards
Stan
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Stan2
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I have had a perfusion scan only last year, this was after having ct scan, echo etc. Was a bit nervous about it. But went ahead, not as bad as I thought it was going to be. If they did not think you needed it done, I don't think they would offer it. The staff doing it were all fantastic, told me what they were doing. Asked me how I was feeling, once the injected the nuclear stuff in. As I feel i have a problem with my neck and head, that was the two places I could feel the stuff going to. Which they said it always does that? My advice would be to talk to your Go or cardiologist. Also you can watch a video of the scan on here if I remember right. Hope this puts your mind at rest.
Hi DD 13 I hope you are available tonight as i have still not made a decision on this and the Scan is due tomorrow. When my Cardio specialist finally got back to me he told me about another type of test and also sympathised with my worries. My GP also fudged the issue and both of them said it was down to me. I feel guilty about wasting NHS time and resources but the cardio specialist didn't get through to me until friday afternoon . Being a teacher didn't help. I now realise that I have had 2 CT scans an angiogram and a normal x ray within the last year. Do you still think I should go ahead with the Nuclear Myo Cardio gram.
I know it is worrying, going through all this. I must admit I was petrified, but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. If they did not think you needed it done, I don't think they would offer it. The choice is yours. If they give you the Mir one, it's still radiation and what is injected. I hope this can put your mind at rest and you make a choice one way or the other.
There is an MRI stress perfusion test available so it’s worth mentioning this to your cardiologist if you think they’re unaware of how much radiation exposure you have had recently. On the downside my MRI stress perfusion test last year gave an erroneous result saying I had ischaemia when a recent invasive angiogram said I don’t.
During my Rubidium scan I was informed the half life of the source material about 15 seconds. So should clear relatively quickly.
I am a radiation worker and am scanned annually to check my dosage. It has never been more than that found in the general population.
The risk! Is real however it’s relative to your other conditions. I would inform the doctors of the procedures you have undergone and ask a direct question regarding your dosage.
Lots of things result in a radiation dose and I don’t see huge issues with a controlled medical exposure. I wonder how many people consider their flights and suchlike.
We are hugely lucky to have access to nuclear medicine and the highly trained staff of the NHS who carry out the procedures.
The risk/reward ratios are very much in your favor the scan being beneficial to your treatment and the doctors ability to actually see the situation regards your heart.
That said there is no harm in speaking to the nuclear medicine department and voicing your concerns they are used to this and it will be no problem for them to give you the facts.
Good luck. For me the worst part was the chemical injection to stress the heart. The scan it’s self no problem.
Hi just a suggestion, have you contacted your cardiologist or thorasic specialist and asked them to speak to each other beforehand. Try calling the secretaries and ask them to ask the drs to call you back. Good luck
Hi I had mentioned my thoracic problems to my consultants but they seemed not to think it made a difference. I shall call the secretaries tomorrow. Thanks for your words and I will let everybody knows how it goes,
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