Stress Test with Thallium

[trubrit]

Hi,

Last Thursday I had a stress test with thallium done.  The reason they performed this test was because I had three episodes of chest pain with exertion the week before.  Just after the test started, I started getting very severe pain in my legs.  My heart rate only went up to 112 beats per minute when they injected the thallium.  I had to stop the test within 3 minutes of starting it because of the pain in my legs (approx. 30 seconds after injection).  I got the results of the test on Saturday.  The cardiologist stated that there was an area of my heart right next to the part that had died from a previous heart attack that was not getting enough blood supply when I exercised, but at this time it was insignificant and was probably not the cause of the chest pain I had previously experienced.  My question is: as I did not get my heart rate up to a high level is it really possible to say with any accuracey that this was the only problem and that I should not be worried about it.  Any answers would be appreciated as this is really worrying me.

Thanks

[kenkeith]

It is expected (normal) to get to the target heart rate (220 less age) sustained for a period of time without abnormal signs (monitoring instruments) and patient symptoms.  The test will be discontinued before reaching target rate, etc. if the vital signs and symptoms indicate a medical problem.

If you are taking coreg or another beta blocker it may be difficult with exertion to get the heart rate very high.  It is possible to obtain a reading of blockage and a deficit oxygen area without sustaining target hr to complete the test.