FDG Cardiac Viability

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Using a specialized cardiac software available at our center, FDG PET can be utilized to assess how much damage has been done to the cardiac tissue after a heart attack or heart disease. Usually the test is used to determine if the heart tissue is dysfunctional but viable or scarred; this will affect the patient’s management in certain cases further intervention may be needed such as angiography, bypass or transplant.

The patient should be fasting for at least 6 hours, only water is allowed. Oral glucose will be administered on the day of the exam as part of the preparation, followed by IV insulin even if the patient is not diabetic. Imaging starts 45-90 minutes after the injection depending on the patient’s diabetic status. The duration of the scan is 10-30 minutes.