RichGotsPots Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Someone recently told me they had they done to check their lungs. Dr fouad apparently invented it... Has anyone else had it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songcanary Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Rich, I had it done two years ago at CC with Dr. Fouad. I had many other tests that day so it's kind of a blur. I remember lying on a table for a long time with a camera above me that took pix every few minutes or so, after they injected the tracer. The tracer initially made me very nauseous but it passed quickly, thank goodness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellgirl Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 That sounds interesting...but kind of creepy to me What happens to it after the test?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue1234 Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 I think I had that done with Dr. Suleman in Dallas. I don't even know if he mentioned what it did or what the results showed. My testing was a day spent in a blur also, so wasn't really thinking straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songcanary Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Well, I do remember that I was given a card to show airport security because apparently I would set off the alarms for three days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoozlyGirl Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Sounds like a nuclear medicine study, possibly with technetium, which has a radioactive half life of 6 hours and will be completely gone from a body within about 2 1/2 days. Technetium (TC99m) is the most common radioisotope used because of its great versatility and convenience and can be tagged to numerous tracers, which will direct it to specific parts of the body and show up on nuclear imaging. Any organ system can be imaged this way, as this a basic, general technique of nuclear imaging. A specific radioactive tracer is selected depending upon the effects wanted. Short frame images (1 per sec, etc) are taken while the injection is given documenting document blood flow. Longer images (30 or 60 sec) can be taken serially to capture blood pooling of the organ and then depending on the radioactive tracer used, delayed images may capture even more information. These delayed images could be taken using planar (spot) imaging or SPECT technology, giving 3 D images. SPECT images could also be captured simulateously with CT imaging using a SPECT/CT scanner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichGotsPots Posted July 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 I wish I could read a report or study about it, if anyone has it... Sounds like a test I could need, but I already had a vq scan just not looking for pooling or flow issues, they just look for clots... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songcanary Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Wow, thanks Doozlygirl,That's a great explanation. I wish YOU had been there when I was tested! Although in fairness, I must say that my techs were wonderful and I probably just don't remember what they said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 I had this done at CC with Dr. Fouad. The nurses explained that she invented the test. However, it was to count red blood cell mass and blood volume looking for hypovolemia etc. Didn't say anything about it being used as a test to check lungs. Mine was done 2 years ago so maybe she's added something I don't know about, but if it's the hemodynamics test I'm not sure you'd get what you're looking for Rich if you're looking more for lung tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellgirl Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Thank you for the explanation Doozlygirl... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoozlyGirl Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 I think this may be what you are looking for , Rich. The Cleveland Clinic procedure, developed by Dr Fouad is done in conjunction with several other tests, ie TTT, Blood volume, etc to evaluate syncope. http://my.clevelandclinic.org/staff_directory/staff_display.aspx?doctorid=637Testing description:http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/services/tests/nuclear/hemodynamictest.aspxMy above post describes common testing capabilites of any nuclear medicine department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichGotsPots Posted July 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 @doozy thnx this is what I wanted to see. I'll call them and ask them if is it can see blood flow in the lungs too.. Also the nuclear exercise test looks interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoozlyGirl Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Rich,From this website, it says that technetium is injected during this hemodynamic blood flow test. As the tracer in the blood moves through the circulation, they should be able to see the lungs light up as well as see the heart light up on the scan, moving through the entire circulation. If the IV is placed in the juggular, and the tracer is injected as a bolus, it will be able to capture the first pass of blood through the left ventricle before going through the lungs and back to the right venticle before the bolus breaks up. I would almost bet the Dr Fuoad uses a computer program to quantify function by drawing region of interest over the areas she is capturing. Similar to how an ejection fraction (EF) is calculated in a nuclear MUGA study, which evaluates cardiac wall motion in addition to EF. By compaing regions of interest and standardizing pixel size, assumptions can be made to assess blood flow quantitatively. Old school nuclear medicine techniques applied in a new way. So cool! The exercise stress test is basically a standard treatmill study where prestress/resting imaging and post stress imaging is compared to quantify LV function and evaluate for blockages. I see you've had a pulmonary exercise test. Did you wear a full headgear during your entire stress test? If not, you may be interested in a VO2 (volume of oxygen) study, where pulmonary function is evaluated during a stress test, with our without a stress echo, and with or without the nuclear imaging I mentioned above. Prospective and post heart and lung transpant patients commonly have this procedure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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