Radionuclide
tests
These
tests are more specialized than those specialized than those mentioned so far.
They
have many clinical applications. A very small and harmless quantity of
radioactive substance (isotope) is injected into the blood, often while the
patient is exercising on a bicycle or treadmill. Pictures by
means of a scanner can be generated either of the cavity of the heart as
it empties and fills or of the blood flow to the muscular walls of the heart,
depending on the isotope used. The two commonest used are technetium and
thallium. The former
is used to test the size and pumping activities of the heart chambers.
Thallium is used to study the blood flow to the heart muscle and provides
additional information to the exercise test.
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