Myocardial perfusion (heart) scan - Nuclear Medicine

Please read this booklet carefully in conjunction with your appointment letter. Why do I need this scan? Your doctor has asked us to perform a scan to look at how much blood reaches your heart muscle in both stress and rest situations. You can choose not to have this test, but we strongly recommend that you should discuss this with your doctor, if you are unsure. Preparation for your scan l We will ask for a list of all the medication you take. Some medications may need to be stopped before the scan. More detailed instructions regarding medication will be given to you in your appointment letter l From 7 pm on the night before your first (stress) appointment you must not have anything containing chocolate and have no caffeine. This includes tea, coffee and cola, including decaffeinated alternatives l You must have no food or drink at all for the 2 hours before your first (stress) appointment l You should not smoke for at least 2 hours before the appointment or during the scan itself l Please bring your own high fat sandwich or similar snack for the test as well as a fizzy drink (see page 2). How is the scan performed? You will need to attend on two separate days for us to see your heart in both stress and rest situations. At the stress (first) appointment, we will check you have followed the preparation instructions correctly. We will also check you have not taken any of the medications which may interfere with the test. We will check your relevant medical history and take baseline blood pressure and heart rate measurements. If these are all as expected, we will continue with the test. You will be asked to lie on our couch and a needle (cannula) will be put into a vein, usually in your arm. A medication is then slowly injected which causes the blood flow to your heart to be increased. Your heart will be monitored during this phase, using an ECG machine. Then we will give you a small injection of a radioactive substance, through the same cannula. This circulates around your body and is taken up by your heart muscle. About 1 hour later we take pictures with a special camera, called a gamma camera. During this 1 hour waiting time we will ask you to eat a high fat sandwich or similar snack with a high fat content and a fizzy drink (which you bring with you to the test). This helps to clear the radioactivity from other body organs and give us clearer pictures. This visit may last up to 4 hours. continued page 3 1 2

Risks and limitations For the rest (second) appointment there will be no stressing of your heart. You will again have an injection of a radioactive substance and scanning will start about 1 hour later. This visit typically lasts about 2 hours. Each scan takes around 30 minutes. You will be asked to lie on an examination bed with your arms above your head, while the gamma camera takes pictures of your heart. Usually there is no need to undress, but bras will have to be removed. We put electrodes on your chest which we connect to our ECG machine. On each visit you will also have a low dose CT scan. These will be performed while you lie on the same imaging table. We also ask you to remove jewellery, keys and other metallic or bulky objects from your person/pockets. Having the scans does not hurt, but it is important that you keep still. If you are uncomfortable please tell us and we will try to make you as comfortable as possible. l If you think you may be pregnant or if you are breastfeeding you must contact us before the test date l Serious side effects from the stressing injection are rare, but the blood flow to your heart will increase and may cause some of your usual heart symptoms l Some people can get a headache or feel nauseous following the stress injection l Some stress agents can cause problems for patients with asthma. You must tell us before your appointment if you have ever had asthma l You might get a small bruise around where we give the injection. This will only last for a few days l Side effects from the radioactive injection are not common. Some people may get a skin rash, upset stomach or dizziness l You will receive a small radiation dose of about 3 msv per appointment, which is similar to that for a barium meal X-ray. To put this in perspective, the average radiation dose received from natural background radiation, in the UK, in one year is just under 3 msv After the scans After the scans, you can eat as normal and you should drink plenty of fluids for the rest of the day. This helps to flush the radioactivity from your body. The radioactivity should completely disappear within 24 hours. Please avoid prolonged close contact with children or pregnant women for the rest of the day that you have your injections. This is to avoid exposing babies and children to unnecessary radiation. 3 4

What happens to the results? What if I cannot attend for my appointment? I need an ambulance, how do I arrange this? Other sources of information A report is sent to the hospital consultant who asked us to do the test. Allow at least 2 weeks for this. Nuclear medicine staff are not allowed to give patients the result of any tests directly. Can I bring a friend or relative? Yes, but they will be asked to remain in the waiting room whilst you are being scanned. Only essential carers may remain with you. You must let us know before your test date if you require a carer present. Please, do not bring children or pregnant adults with you as there may be other patients in the department who might expose them to a small but unnecessary amount of radiation. If you have any questions about your examination or cannot make the appointment, please telephone the help-line on: This is a 24 hour answer phone, but it is usually manned Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.00pm. If you prefer, or are not able to telephone please contact us via email on: isotopes@srft.nhs.uk Please include your name, address, date of birth and hospital number (if known) on all correspondence. Please help us to cut our waiting lists. If you need to cancel or change your appointment call us as soon as you can so that we can use it for another patient. If you need an ambulance contact: 0161 206 7014 Salford residents 0800 032 3240 Other areas Please inform the Nuclear Medicine department if you are arriving by ambulance. Interpreters If you need an interpreter for your examination please call the Nuclear Medicine department so that we can try to arrange this. We hope your questions have been answered by this booklet. For further information regarding nuclear medicine examinations visit the British Nuclear Medicine website: http:www.bnms.org.uk/ patients/ NHS 111 Service when less urgent than 999 111 If you require further information about this test please contact: Nuclear Medicine, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Stott Lane, Salford, M6 8HD 5 6

G16072205W Design Services Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust All Rights Reserved 2017 This document MUST NOT be photocopied Information Leaflet Control Policy: Unique Identifier: CS 59 (16) Review Date: January 2019 University Teaching Trust For further information on this leaflet, it s references and sources used, please contact. Copies of this information are available in other languages and formats upon request. If you need this interpreting please telephone In accordance with the Equality Act we will make reasonable adjustments to enable individuals with disabilities, to access this treatment / service. Email: InterpretationandTrans@srft.nhs.uk Under the Human Tissue Act 2004, consent will not be required from living patients from whom tissue has been taken for diagnosis or testing to use any left over tissue for the following purposes: clinical audit, education or training relating to human health, performance assessment, public health monitoring and quality assurance. If you object to your tissue being used for any of the above purposes, please inform a member of staff immediately. Salford Royal operates a smoke-free policy. For advice on stopping smoking contact the Hospital Specialist Stop Smoking Service on 0161 206 1779 Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust Stott Lane, Salford, Manchester, M6 8HD Telephone 0161 789 7373 www.srft.nhs.uk If you would like to become a Foundation Trust Member please visit: www.srft.nhs.uk/ for-members If you have any suggestions as to how this document could be improved in the future then please visit: http://www.srft.nhs.uk/ for-patients