How accurate is a nuclear cardiac stress test?

Question

I had this test done in the hospital about two weeks ago when I was hospitalized for chest pain. When the test came back the doctor stated to me that the test looked ok but they still wanted to run more test. I am still having chest pain and I have to go and see my doctor every two weeks to check my pressure in between seeing the cardiac doctor. Also at home my mother as had to start taking my blood pressure manually because the automatic machine has a hard time finding a pulse in my left arm and it inflates to much, and even manually she has a hard time she and other people who have taken my BP in the left arm has said the pulse was faint and that they can here a clicking noise what could be causing this the pulse is always weaker. I am taking nine different meds for my heart but they told me that the muscle was fine but wont to do more test I don’t understand. I am not over weight, don’t drink, smoke, are do drugs.

Answer 1

Victoria - Sorry to hear about your recent health problems. The answer to your question may be more complex than you expected. The nuclear cardiac stress test is designed to look for the presence of coronary arteries that have become blocked enough to cause symptoms. That usually means a blockage of about 70% or more. While it is a very good test in the right circumstances, no test is perfect. Therefore, it is up to the doctor to decide how to interpret the results. Let me expand on this...

Studies report that the nuclear cardiac stress test has a sensitivity of about 85 percent and a specificity of about 95 percent for detection of coronary artery disease. That means that if you take 100 people with coronary disease and run this test, 85 of them will have a positive test. The other 15 will get a false negative test. At the same time, if you take 100 people WITHOUT any coronary disease and run this test, 95 will have a normal result but 5 will have a false positive.

The problem is, there is no way to know for sure whether your test was REALLY ok or if it was just a false negative test. That's why it is important for a doctor (who has taken your history and who has performed a full physical exam) to decide what to do with the result. Let's say that I told you that the urine pregnancy test you can get at the drugstore is 99.9% accurate (I'm making that number up). If a female friend has been trying to get pregnant, and then says that she missed her period, and then starts getting a bigger and bigger belly and complaining of breast tenderness and morning sickness... would you believe it if the urine pregnancy test says that she is not pregnant? Of course not. If your son thought it would be funny to use the urine pregnancy test on himself and it came back POSITIVE, would you believe it? Of course not.

By the same token, if all signs point to your chest pain being NON-heart-related, then a normal test is VERY reassuring. On the other hand, if you all of your symptoms and other tests point to your chest pain being ANGINA (heart pain), then we are less likely to trust a negative test.

The best advice I can offer you is to speak to your doctor and tell him about your concerns. It is impossible for anyone on Yahoo! Answers to say what is going on with you because we don't know your medical history, we don't have access to your test resuluts, and we can't do a physical examination to find clues as to what is going on. If you have doubts about your doctor's diagnosis or treatment plan, it is NEVER wrong to ask for or seek out a second opinion.

I hope you find that helpful. Good luck!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I know you asked the question about a nuclear cardiac stress test, and I'm no doctor, but what caught my attention are some things you said at the end of your statement.
They reminded me of a family members condition....

-people who take your pulse find it weak.
-they hear a clicking noise.
-your taking nine different heart medications.

When people take your pulse are they using a stethescope like the nurses in the hospital do? they probably should which will increase the accuracy.

When they hear the noise do they describe it as an opening and closing sound, or just as a click? this could be a heart valve closing and opening which shloud be normal, or it cold be colesterol build up in the ateries.

The multilpe medications you take, what are they and what do each of them do? You should find out from either a pharmacist or the doctor who issued them to you. Some medicinces thin the blood, while others may cause inflamation to the blood vesels as a side effect.

Also check the drug interaction database to make sure none of these drugs can react negatively with one another, or with something you might have eaten.

Either way you should tell your doctor(s) about it when you get the chance, because when it comes to your health, there are no dumb questions.

Good luck, and i hope that this helps somewhat.

Answer 4

Nuclear Stress Test Accuracy

Answer 5

An angiogram is nearly fool proof because they can actually physically see the blocked area on the screen during the test. A stress test only shows there is stress on the heart for some reason. An EKG also just shows an abnormality but not what or how. An echo just looks at the bloodflow through the heart, not necessarily any blockages. A CT scan is the least likely way to find a blockage.

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Answer 6

Nuclear stress is highly accurate test, either you you use Thallium or Tc99 or Myoview a combination of both. It accurately out line ischemic area of myocardium, and it's status.
At the same time it shows the coronary arteries status.
Highly accurate test,But remember for CABG patient angiography is a must.

Answer 7

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