If the technetium heart scan is normal, no technetium will show up in the heart.
In an abnormal technetium heart scan, hot spots reveal damage to the heart. The larger the hot spots, the poorer the patient's prognosis.
The patient can resume normal activities immediately after the test.
The technetium heart scan is not dangerous. The technetium is completely gone from the body within a few days of the test. The scan itself exposes the patient to about the same amount of radiation as a chest x ray.
The technetium heart scan is used to evaluate the heart after a heart attack. It can confirm that a patient had a heart attack when the symptoms and pain usually associated with a heart attack were not present; identify the size and location.
Two to three hours before the scan, technetium is injected into a vein in the patient's forearm.
This scan is used for the diagnostic of heart diseases.
Pregnant women and those who are breastfeeding should not be exposed to technetium.
The isotope is injected into a vein and absorbed by healthy tissue at a known rate during a certain time period. The radionuclide detector, in this case a gamma scintillation camera, picks up the gamma rays emitted by the isotope.
The value is expressed as a percentage of emptying over a period of time. For a technetium-filled egg sandwich, normal emptying is 78 minutes for half the material to leave the stomach, with a variation of 11 minutes.
A normal thallium heart scan typically shows even distribution of the radioactive tracer throughout the heart muscle, indicating adequate blood flow to all regions of the heart. There should be no areas of reduced blood flow or "cold spots" which could indicate potential blockages or areas of reduced heart muscle function. The scan should also show normal heart wall motion and function.
The scan should reveal no infection or pathology.
The test reveals normal kidney function for age and medical situation.