abnormal nuclear stress test

[metts]

I was admitted Monday for chest pains, I'm 32 female, healthy weight, don't smoke. They ran echo, ekg, Ct of chest and nuclear stress. The images in the nuclear stress test did not match. The Dr said that they isotopes did not go to the front of my chest but he did not know why. He said it did not show a blockage. He told me to go home, take it easy and follow up in his office in a few weeks. He said he was unsettled that it they did not match. I am at a loss, leaving the hospital with chest pain and an abnormal nuclear stress test is unsettleing. Any advice or thoughts?

[LivingInHope]

I hope it won't get worse, but glad you are planning to go sooner if it does and thanks for the update!  Please let me know what they learn after the catheterization?

[metts]

I have an update, I saw my cardiologist yesterday (I went to the closest hospital earlier this week and my Dr didn't have privledges). My Dr was actually really upset with the hospital cardiologist. I had WPW (Wolfe parkinskon white) when I was younger, had two cath's and 1 ablation, all in my early 20's. I did tell all of this to the hospital Dr.

Anyhow my Dr says we need to do a cath because its very possible that there is scar tissue from the previous ablation causing a problem or a blockage. He was also upset that the dr did a nuclear test and said I have had to many as it is, the extra radation was totally unneccessary - that this is the path we would have to take regardless. He said he was floored the dr. discharged me.

All very comforting, let me tell you. Any how, I go in Monday for the cath. I am still having the chest pains and if it gets worse I will go in sooner. But I'd rather my doc and he will be there Monday.

[LivingInHope]

I'm also a non-smoker not considered to be overweight.  When I was 32 (funny it was the same age, isn't it?), I went in with chest pains- at that point, I had already had an abnormal nuclear medicine test, where it looked like there was an area of ischemia they felt was reversible.  After I went in with chest pain, I was kept I think it was over a weekend until they could do an angiogram on Monday.  

The doctor who performed the angiogram said my arteries were pristine like a teenager's, though I heard someone call out "low volume" while the angiogram was being conducted.  It was later found out that I was iron deficient.  Have you had your ferritin and iron saturation checked recently?  Iron deficiency anemia can have chest pain as a symptom.

  Did the doctor who felt unsettled over the nuclear medicine test order the blood tests to be sure you did not have a heart attack?  Did he feel the result could not be explained by artifact, which can be a problem that can arise with nuclear imaging with well-developed females?  Did he check to see if the test was performed properly (the picture take at the proper distance from the chest, etc.)?  Did the echo-cardiogram come back as normal?

Do you have any part of your chest wall when you push that feels tender and sore?  If so, ask the doctor if you might have costo-chondritis, a painful musculoskeletal problem which can make a person wonder if they are having a heart issue when it's on the left side.

  Does the chest pain get worse after eating (perhaps certain foods or drinking coffee, etc.) or when laying in bed?  If so, you might ask if you can get referred to a GI doctor to check for acid reflux- painful esophageal spasms can also feel like it might be your heart.

[ed34]

It sounds to me like he wants to discuss the issue with other colleagues to try and come to a conclusion. When you say "ct of chest" do you mean a CT Angiogram of the heart? If so, I assume this showed no blockages which is why the Nuclear scan is unbelievable?
Did you have chest pains during any of the tests?