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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
"PET" test for CAD
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
"PET" test for CAD
by mason__0, Dec 15, 1998 12:00AM
I have had a recommendation of a PET test which, I understand, is similar to the thalium stress test. how does it differ, how is it better, and where can it be done? note .. I have had the thalium test which gave positive indications for ischema. could this be a false positive and would the PET test be better? CABG surgery was performed several months ago. THANKS
Dear Mason
We perform PET testing here at the Cleveland Clinic. Only specialized cardiac centers have access to the sophisticated equipment that is needed to perform a PET scan. It is more sensitive at picking up coronary artery disease than a thallium scan. It is particularly useful in obese patients in whom the thallium can produce less accurate results. It can also give information about whether parts of the heart muscle that appear dead on thallium are really alive.
Your thallium could be a false positive - there is no way of knowing that without a cardiac catheterization. I suppose if your PET is completely normal, it might be possible to conclude that the thallium was a false positive.
I hope this information is useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provided specific diagnoses and therapies. Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck!
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
