Myocardial Perfusion Imaging

Cardiovascular conditions, especially in the form of coronary artery disease (narrowing of the coronary arteries causing impaired blood supply to the heart muscle) are steadily increasing in the population. Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy is a method of examining the circulatory condition of the heart muscle at rest or under stress.

What can I expect in the examination and what should I bear in mind?

The stress test is similar to the exercise ECG. Radioactively labelled molecules such as MIBI or thallium are injected to create a visual representation of the heart muscle. These build up in the heart muscle in proportion to the local blood supply.
A bicycle ergometric stress test (like the exercise-ECG) is performed in the morning, after which the radioactively labelled drug is administered intravenously. Scintigraphic images are taken using a gamma camera immediately afterwards.

A radiopharmaceutical is then injected intravenously in the early afternoon while the patient is at rest, and scintigraphic images are taken again.

If a bicycle ergometry stress test is not possible, the examination can also be carried out by means of a pharmacological stress test (usually with adenosine).