Nuclear Pharmacological Stress Test

A nuclear pharmacological stress test evaluates blood flow to your heart muscle during periods of exercise (stress) and rest.

This helps doctors determine if you have a blockage in one or more arteries of the heart.

The arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle can become clogged or narrowed from plaque buildup (called atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease). To examine your heart’s blood circulation, we use safe, radioactive tracers. The images of the tracers allow us to see the heart muscle that is receiving the blood supply more clearly.

The nuclear pharmacological stress test has three parts: imaging while you are at rest, putting your heart under stress using medication and imaging after being under stress.

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