Cardiac ventriculography
Cardiac Ventriculography is a medical imaging test used to determine a patient's cardiac function in the right, or more typically, left ventricle. Cardiac ventriculography involves injecting dye into the heart's ventricle(s) to measure the volume of blood pumped. Cardiac ventriculography can be performed with a radionuclide in radionuclide ventriculography or with an iodine-based contrast in cardiac chamber catheterization.
The 3 major measurements obtained by cardiac ventriculography are:
- Ejection Fraction
- Stroke Volume
- Cardiac Output
Radionuclide ventriculography
Radionuclide ventriculography is a form of nuclear imaging, where a gamma camera is used to create an image following injection of radioactive material, usually Technetium-99m (99mTc). In radionuclide ventriculography, the radionuclide has the property of circulating through the cardiac chambers, availing for studies of the pumping function of the heart.[1] In contrast, in myocardial perfusion imaging, the radionuclide is taken up by the myocardial cells, making its presence correlating with myocardial perfusion or viability of the cells.[1]
Radionuclide ventriculography is done to evaluate coronary artery disease (CAD), valvular heart disease, congenital heart diseases, cardiomyopathy, and other cardiac disorders.[1] It exposes patients to less radiation than do comparable chest x-ray studies. However, the radioactive material is retained in the patient for several days after the test, during which sophisticated radiation alarms may be triggered, such as in airports.[1] Radionuclide ventriculography has largely been replaced by echocardiography, which is less expensive, does not require radiation exposure, and may measure ejection fractions as accurately.[1]
Sources
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Further reading
- Topol, Eric J. (2000), Cleveland Clinic Heart Book, Hyperion, ISBN 0786864958
- http://healthguide.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-ventriculography-dictionary.htm
