pet scans

[zk]

I was told about two types of cardiac Pet studies:a stress test that measures blood circulations in the arteries of the heart and the second type used to assess heart muscle functioning following previous injury,such as a heart attack.1.At CCF is stress part of Pet scan done with injected drugs that make heart beat faster or is it done on on exersize treadmill without injecting drugs,if both methods are used which has better accuracy and safety?2.Are there life threatening risks from isotopes and other drugs that are usually injected during stress part of the test? 3.Is person scanned from head to toe (at least once) during heart Pet scan at CCF and is there too much radiation from the scan?4.Does heart Pet scan (beside viability,old mild heart attacks,coronary reserve) measures heart chamber sizes,thoracic aorta,EF,valvular diseases etc and are measurements as accurate as with echocardiogram?5.At CCF what's the cost of having only assessed heart muscle functioning following previous injury such as heart attack and what's the cost of having both types of cardiac Pet studies?6. Can cancer studies (anywhere in the body) be done at the same time with the same isotopes used for heart Pet scan?Thanks

[zk]

Can anyone who had heart PET scan at CCF or anywhere explain how is this test done and are there any side effects?

[CCF-M.D.-RCJ]

Zk,

Thanks for the questions.

(1) At CCF, we exclusively use pharmacologic (drug-induced) stress as part of the PET cardiac imaging protocol.

(2)No, except in the extremely unusual patient who has either (1)a bizarre allergic reaction or (2) extrememly unstable cardiac disease.

(3)No, the person undergoes chest scans only.  The amount of radiation that a person receives is on the order of the amount of radiation that you receive from cosmic rays on a trans-atlantic flight.

(4)No, echo is clearly superior for EF, inspection of the aorta, heart chamber size, and assessment of heart valves.

(5)I don't know, but around $1200 - $1500.

(6)Oncologic survey is not part of the cardiac protocol, but could theoretically be performed.

Hope that helps.