Thallium Stress test

Posted By Jim Szarka on December 14, 1997 at 11:56:37:









In January 1997 I had chest pains and after an angiogram it was discovered that I had a 90% blockage in the LAD with an additional 50% blockage in the same arterary further down. I had been diagnosed with Arterary disease.
They cleared the 90% blockage with a stent angioplasti and left the 50% blockage to be treated with diet, medication and excercise. In late February I had my first Thallium stress test. This served as a reference and they said that it looked good wiht good blood flow to the heart.
In late May I had another thalliun stress as a result of  experiencing chest pains. This test showed that I had a slight decresed blood flow to the heart in the area  where the stent and blockage exist.
On December 11th I had another thallium stress as a result of some more pains with cold sweats at night. The results of this test seem to be very confusing. This test showed no decreased flow where it was previously ( in the area of the stent/blockage) but showed a decreased flow in the area on the right  side of my heart.
My cardiologist seemed some what confused with this analysis. I will be seeing him later this week for more extensive feedback including the possibility of another angiogram. However I have  several questions .
Can the thallium test be inaccurate for any reason?
If I do have another blockage on the right side of my heart, could this have happened between the May test and now with nothing showing up on the May test? And why didn't the area of the original decresed blood flow still show up ihn the later test ? It seems as though the decreased blood flow moved from one area to another. Is this possible?
My cholesterol has been good - overall being 160 with HDL at 43 and LDL at 103. I take Toprol, Provachol and aspirin as well as various high doses of vitamin C and E and have been on a low fat diet.
My health  insurance company did not allow cadriac rehab since they said my original Thallium test results were good. We have been fighting that  battle with them and it is still on-going.
Is there anything  you can provide to help clear up some of my confusion as well as recommend a course of action? Thanks