Myocardial perfusion scan
About your myocardial perfusion scan
Important information
Please do not drink tea, coffee, hot chocolate, energy drinks or anything containing caffeine for 24 hours before your appointment.
A myocardial perfusion scan looks at the blood supply to your heart.
It can give a lot of information about your heart that can help guide your treatment plan. The scan is in two parts and is carried out over one day or two separate days.
During the first part we will exercise your heart using some medication and ask you to do some light pedalling on an exercise bike.
You will then be given an injection containing a small amount of radioactive material.
After waiting for 30–45 minutes we will take pictures of your heart using a special camera. The scan takes about 20 minutes and you must keep very still during this time.
We may ask you to return to the department about three hours later for the second part of the test. You may drink and eat normally after the first scan.
The second scan is a “resting” scan and does not involve exercise but you will receive another injection containing a small amount of radioactive material. The scan will be repeated after 60 minutes.
If you need both scans the whole process will take approximately six hours.
Medicines
For most scans there is no need to change any regular treatment. If you are taking persantin or dipyridamole please contact us before your appointment.
Please bring a list of your medication with you.
Diabetics
If you are diabetic please continue with your normal routine, with the exception of products containing caffeine. If you will need food while you are with us please bring a light snack with you. If you are on insulin please bring this with you.
Are there any risks associated with this test?
We strongly believe the benefits to having the scan outweigh any risks.
Exercise or the injection that mimics exercise may cause an abnormal heart rhythm, heart attack or very rarely death (1 in 10,000 cases).
We will carefully assess your personal risk from exercise before we carry out the test.
The injection that stimulates exercise can cause wheezy breathing. Again we will assess your risk for this.
Radiation: We use as little radiation as possible—the amount used is the same as a few years’ worth of background radiation to which we are all exposed.
The risk of fatal cancer because of the radiation is low (1 in 10,000 to 1 in 1,000).
This changes with your age and medical history and is a very small additional risk compared with your overall lifetime chance of getting cancer.
Female patients
You should not have a myocardial perfusion scan if you think you might be pregnant.
Please tell us before the scan if you:
- think you may be pregnant
- are breast-feeding or
- have very young children
Appointment information
We aim to keep your appointment time as best as we can but should you be late or if there is an emergency at the hospital, it may not be possible to perform your scan immediately.
If you are a private patient you will need to bring along your private insurance details or pay your invoice on the day of the scan.
After your scan
Following both scans you can eat and drink normally.
You may go anywhere you wish but please try to avoid long periods of close contact with children (under 12) or pregnant women for 24 hours after your scan i.e. no more than 30 minutes of close contact at less than 1 metre in the first 24 hours. Contact at greater than 1 metre is unrestricted.
This is to avoid exposing them to unnecessary radiation.
If you are travelling by air within a week of your scan please let us know.
Sometimes very small amounts of radiation left in your body after the scan can be detected by security equipment at airports.
We can give you a letter to explain this to airport staff.
Results
We will send the results to the hospital consultant who requested the scan.
Further information
For further information about your procedure please contact the Nuclear Medicine Department on 020 3315 8415.