Thallium stress test is a nuclear imaging method that shows how well blood flows into the heart muscle, both at rest and during activity. The test can give information about the size of the heart's chambers, how well the heart is pumping blood, and whether the heart has any damaged or dead muscle. Nuclear stress tests can also give doctors information about your arteries and whether they might be narrowed or blocked because of coronary artery disease.

Nuclear cardiology uses noninvasive techniques to assess myocardial blood flow, evaluate the pumping function of the heart as well as visualize the size and location of a heart attack.

How does it work?

This test is almost the same as the exercise stress test, except doctors will give you a small amount of a radioactive substance just before the end of the exercise part of the test. This radioactive substance is not harmful to your body or your organs.

The results of the nuclear stress test show doctors if the heart is not working properly while you are resting, exercising, or both. If the test shows that blood flow is normal while you are resting but not normal while you are exercising, then doctors know that your blood flow to your heart is not adequate during times of stress. The heart normally pumps more blood during times of physical exertion. If the test results are not normal during both parts of the test (rest and exercise), part of your heart is permanently deprived of blood or is scarred. If doctors cannot see the radioactive substance in one part of your heart, it probably means that section of heart muscle has died, either because of a previous heart attack or because the coronary arteries supplying blood to that area of the heart are blocked.

This procedure is available at our main Sarasota campus as well as our Wauchula and Arcadia locations.

Learn more about Nuclear Cardiology