LPN Programs

A new study was done at patients who went under nuclear test on heart at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. It showed 21 of the patients did not meet the test criteria so should not have undergone the test. None required a test for cardiac catheterization as they were considered low risk for nuclear testing.

Researchers say eight million nuclear tests are performed nationally. Patients are exposed to a small amount of radiation during the four-hour test, which costs about $4,000. A cardiac nuclear test is a procedure to measure arterial blood flow to the heart during physical or chemical stress. When compared to blood flow during rest, the test reflects a misbalance of blood flow to the heart’s left ventricular muscle tissue, the part of the heart that performs the greatest amount of work pumping blood. Hence all hospitals that perform nuclear stress test on the heart may be wasting time and money.

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