A stress test using low dosage radioactive chemicals on the heart is known as a nuclear stress test. The test is designed to produce an image of the blood flowing to your heart muscles.
Such tests are conducted by doctors in order to figure out whether or not a patient has sufficient or diminished blood flow. Of course if they detect a reduction in the amount of blood flow, then that will tell them there is a restriction somewhere or possibly within the heart, itself. When a nuclear test is conducted, the patient can be either resting or exercising. Since exercise causes stress to the body, the heart and the complete cardiovascular system, the test is referred to as a stress test.
The nuclear stress test is designed to measure the blood flow that comes to the heart. This test is meant to measure the heart's blood flow in exercise conditions as well as "at rest" conditions. This test gets its name from the radioactive compounds that are used in the test in order to create the images. So because there are two conditions of importance, what that means is imaging will need to be performed both while at rest and then during the time of exercise. There is a difference with this test in that the image is taken as soon as the subject has finished exercising on a treadmill. This means that the images will capture the heart in a still stressed state.
The stress EKG is a very useful resource for doctors because it is a picture of how well the heart is able to pump blood. Also, the walls of the heart are in plain view and can give more data about the activity and any possible current problems. Once again, as in other tests it is the response of the heart while in a stressed state that doctors are most interested to learn about. The EKG is just a simple picture of the activity that is going on while the heart is under stress. The thing that makes this test beneficial is that it can pick up on blood flow abnormalities that other tests might not have picked up on in relation to blockages.
Recreating a picture of the operation of the heart during periods of stress is what nuclear stress tests are used for and this is done with the help of radioactive isotopes. As you may know, a stressed heart is more apt to reveal an abnormal situation in the body that is related to the heart or cardiovascular system. However, it is important for the doctor to obtain images of the heart during periods of rest as well. So the isotopes are injected into the blood stream to help produce the images. Upon completion of the test, a cardiologist will look over the results to attempt to identify any potential problems, whether they are structural or functional. A nuclear stress test image will show a big contrast between areas that have restricted or reduced blood flow and those that have regular blood supply, which is why they are so useful.
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