Nuclear Ventriculography: imaging technique for the Heart Chambers

Diagnostic tests for heart diseases

• Carotid Ultrasound for diagnosing narrowing of the carotid arteries
• Abdominal Aortic Ultrasound: How is it peformed?
• How does Implantable Loop Recorder monitor heart rhythm?
• Doppler Ultrasound: for detecting abnormal blood flow
• Tilt table test: Why is this test performed?
• How Cardiac MRI help to diagnose heart problems
• Transesophageal Echocardiography
• Stress Echocardiography or stress echo or stress test
• Cardiac PET Scan: Positron Emission Tomography
• Nuclear Ventriculography: imaging technique for the Heart Chambers
• Nuclear Stress Test OR Myocardial Perfusion Scan
• How does Intravascular Ultrasound quantify Plaque?
• Holter Monitoring for measuring Heart’s electrical activity
• Exercise Stress Test: How is it performed?
• How is Electrophysiology Studies performed?

Heart Diseases

• How serious is Valvular Heart Disease? Let us understand
• Growing concerns of Sudden Cardiac Arrest in India
• Heart Failure: a Chronic and Life-threatening Condition
• How do artery blockages lead to Heart Attack?
• Angina: a feeling of squeezing and chest pain
• Venous blood clots
• Varicose Veins
• Valve Disease
• Raynaud’s Phenomenon
• Pulmonary Stenosis
• Pulmonary embolism
• Do you know how serious is Congenital Heart Disease?
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Carotid Artery Disease
• Coronary Artery Disease

Nuclear ventriculography is an imaging technique that is primarily used to scan the chambers of the heart. It is often done to measure the heart’s ejection fraction and identify any abnormalities of the blood pumping function. This test is also known as MUGA (multiple–gated acquisition) scan or radionuclide ventriculography. 

How is Nuclear ventriculography performed?

The patient is asked to remove his clothing from the waist up and wear the hospital gown. Small sticky metal discs called electrodes are then attached to his chest. These are connected to the electrocardiograph machine by the leads. Through this machine, the doctor monitors the patient’s ECG to track his heartbeat during the test.

After this, the patient lies down on the examination table, and a gamma-ray camera is placed over his chest. It captures pictures of the patient’s heart while resting, thus called the “resting” scan. Sometimes, the doctor may order an “exercise” scan in addition to the resting scan. For this, the patient will be asked to walk on a treadmill or pedal an exercise bike. On reaching the peak activity level, the technician stops him and instructs him to lie on the examination table.

The gamma-ray camera then hovers over him to take pictures of his heart. The patient will be moved to a different examination table and pedal a specifically mounted bicycle in some cases. This allows the technician to capture several images of the heart while the patient is exercising. 

Are there any risks involved in it?

It is a relatively safe test as minimal amounts of radionuclide is only used. The harmless radioisotope will generally leave the patient’s body within 2 to 3 days. This test is, however, contraindicated in pregnant and breastfeeding women as it may harm the baby. 

FAQs: Nuclear ventriculography

What are preparations required from the patient? The patient must fast for 4 to 6 hours before the test. He should also avoid smoking and taking caffeinated drinks for 24 hours before the test. It is generally advised to wear comfortable clothing and shoes for the test. 

How long does it take? It takes about 1 to 2 hours to get the test done.

Who performs it? This test is performed by a nuclear medicine technologist.

How much does it cost? It costs over Rs. 5K to 7K to get a MUGA scan done in India.

When can I go home after the procedure? The patient can go home and resume his normal activities immediately after the test.

References:

Check Resources for further updates