Nuclear cardiology stress test--how much radiaiton?

None: Tbere is no radiation exposure on a nuclear cardiology stress test. The tracer chemical is a harmless radioisotope, usually technitium, but sometimes thallium, which is entirely eliminated from the body within 24 hours after it is injected. The radioisotope is simply used as a tracer to assess the blood circulation to the heart muscle regions.

Radiation exposure: There most certainly is radiation exposure with nuclear cardiology stress testing whether it is with thallium, sestamibi, or any of the pet imaging agents. The exposure is minimal but real and the risk vs. Benefit to the patient needs to be considered before ordering the study. Pregnant women should not have these studies and young women can have a very small but increased risk of breast cancer.

A small amount: To visualize the heart muscle, a small amount of radioactivity is administered, circulates through the bloodstream and is taken up by the heart muscle. The amount given must be enough to allow the heart to be seen above the background radiation that is present in our environment. In reality, this amount is really quite small and does not add significantly to our risk of cancer.

Typically: 15-25 millisieverts but this can vary.

It really : Depends on the specific protocol that used. If stress only imaging is utilized as well as single isotope avoiding thallium is used the amount of radiation used is significantly decreased. Check with your doctor and specific lab. Lastly is appropriate use criteria are followed radiation exposure can be limited . It is the physician's obligation to limit radiation exposure to their patients.

Depends: Depends on your weight and the type of nuclear agent used. For an average size person a modern single nuclear isotope test is 12-18 msv. If you live in denver you get 3 msv /year of radiation; a flight from ny to la is about 1msv, etc..

About 10 mSv: Depends on the technique, but average is around 10 msv for tc99m myocardial perfusion spect imaging. Can go down to around 2 msv with pet using n13-ammonia or higher (15 to 20 msv) with tl-201.

LOw: Radiation exposure to the human body is measure often as millisieverts (msv). Each year, americans are typically exposed to a radiation dose of about 3 msv from the atmosphere. By comparison, a chest x-ray delivers a radiation dose of 0.02 msv. Aresting scan combined with a stress scan using the radioactive tracer technetium-99m sestamibi - averages 11.3 msv.

Less than suntanning: The radiation doses typically exposed during a nuclear cardiac stress imaging exam is between 0.7 and 1.1 rad depending on the activity of the radionuclide received; these estimates are based on 20 mci and 30 mci, which are typical per normal body size. Usually, there is no concern about radiation exposure below 15 rad.

Not much: The total amount of radiation in nuclear stress test is approximately 11 millisieverts in women and 9 in men. In comparison, individuals living at higher elevations eg in denver colorado, would get background radiation of approximately 3 millisieverts/year.

Nuclear: It will depend on different factors such as tracer used , number of days taken , only stress vs stress-rest protocol used. In general, If sestamibi is used, for only stress is about 8 mCi and and for stress and rest is about 11 mCi.

Nuclear stress test: Simply, it depends, but the doses are kept low and the time it is in your body is several hours. Most often technicium is used, sometimes thallium is used. These are safe tests when done in the appropriate setting.

Radiation: MIBI scans are safe. They are not ‘invasive’ A small amount of radioactive material is used. The dose of this radiation is small, 10-15mSi, similar to a CT chest but 100x more than a chest x-ray.

Much more than CXR: Most patients shouldn't worry about the amount of radiation from this type of test if it is really necessary. Please see this article from the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). http://www.sharecare.com/health/circulatory-system-health/radiation-exposure-nuclear-stress-test-dangerous