A nuclear stress test evaluates whether enough blood is reaching different parts of the heart muscle by pairing stress testing with nuclear tracer imaging.
What Happens During The Test
The nuclear stress test uses either exercise stress or a medication to raise heart workload, followed by injection of a radioactive tracer to capture perfusion images of the heart.
Images are then taken of the heart so the care team can compare blood flow patterns at stress and at rest.
What The Images Help Answer
This exam helps physicians see which areas of the heart muscle are receiving enough blood and which areas may not be perfusing normally.
That makes it a key tool in identifying suspected coronary artery disease and deciding whether symptoms should be worked up further.