Thallium/Nuclear (Sestamibi) Cardiac Scan Services

A thallium or technetium (sestamibi) scan is a test used to estimate the amount of blood reaching the heart muscle during rest and exercise. This test is primarily offered for people with unexplained chest pain or to determine the location and amount of injured heart muscle after a heart attack.

During the test, a radioactive tracer is injected into a vein in the arm. After the tracer has been injected into the bloodstream, a special camera is used to view the amount of the tracer that reaches the heart. As the tracer moves through the heart muscle, areas with good blood flow absorb the tracer. If an area of heart muscle does not adequately absorb the tracer, it means either that the blood flow is either severely reduced, or there has been a previous heart attack. In addition, stress thallium scans produce two sets of images: One while the person is at rest, and the other after the heart has been stressed through exercise or medication. After these two images are compared, the doctor can prescribe treatment to increase blood flow to the necessary areas of the heart.