Cardiac PET Viability

An evaluation of the functional status of the heart (viability) and whether the heart has suffered permanent damage.

What to expect

You have been scheduled for a cardiac PET viability exam. This exam performed in conjunction with cardiac SPECT perfusion or cardiac PET perfusion imaging during the same appointment. Depending your clinical situation, the cardiac stress test (e.g. treadmill exercise) may not be required.

Prior to your appointment

Please do not eat or drink flavored liquids for 8 hours prior to the scheduled exam (it is OK to take water and medications). If you are a diabetic and are injecting greater than 100 units of regular insulin per day, please contact the Nuclear Medicine staff and your cardiologist prior to the appointment, we may need to make modifications to the imaging protocol.

During the appointment

During the appointment, you will be injected with dextrose (sugar water) and, possibly, insulin to help improve the image quality of your heart. The radioactive label that we inject, called FDG, is a form of sugar and used to assess the function of the heart and whether the heart tissue is alive and using sugar for energy to pump blood. Once the FDG is injected, you will rest for approximately 45 minutes prior to imaging in the PET/CT scanner.