It's almost like something out of a science fiction story.
Jill Connor / The CitizenCertified medicine technologist Daniel Gibson helps Dale O'Bryan, of Auburn, out of the Gamma Camera after it took scans of his heart using a radio active isotope earlier this month at Auburn Cardiology and Pulmonary Associates.
A radioactive isotope enters into your bloodstream, allowing people to see your blood as it flows through your heart.
But this procedure happens every day right in Auburn, and it is saving peoples' lives.
Myocardial perfusion imaging is a common medical practice that allows cardiologists to get a picture of the blood flow in a person's heart. Auburn Cardiology and Pulmonary Associates has been running a nuclear cardiology lab since 2005, and the lab recently earned accreditation by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories.
The point of the procedure, according to Nelly Kazzaz, one of the two cardiologists who work with the lab, is to detect blockages and other obstructions in the heart before they can cause serious problems.
“It's like a tagging system,” Kazzaz said. “We can take pictures of every area of the heart where the blood flows.”
A patient undergoing the three-hour procedure is closely supervised throughout the process. Patients come to the lab and are interviewed to make sure they have not taken any medications that would skew the results.
After an IV, they are injected with the isotope and a nurse takes their vitals. The lab technician then takes images of the heart while they are at rest. They then work on a treadmill until they reach a target heart rate. The heart rate can also be chemically induced if the patient is unable to walk or run on the treadmill.
The technician takes images of the heart in a stressed stage and compares them to the resting images. This allows the doctors to see differences and irregularities.
If there are problems, doctors and patients will work together on the proper treatment, Kazzaz said. If the scan comes back normal, the risk of having a heart attack within the next two or three years is less than 1 percent, she said.
“It is a big relief when we can tell patients something like that,” Kazzaz said.
Patients receive the imaging tests for various reasons - chest pain, family history of heart problems, high blood pressure or to check progress after a cardiac event. Some come in because they are scheduled for an unrelated surgery and the doctor wants to make sure they don't have any issues.
Some patients have reservations about the procedure, Kazzaz said. The word “nuclear” has all sorts of connotations.
While the doctors have to respect a patient's wishes not to undergo the tests, Kazzaz said the preventative benefits outweigh the very minimal risks.
“You get more radiation flying to California than you get here,” she said.
And according to the lab's technician, Daniel Gibson, the practice's recent board accreditation speaks to its safety and competency. In order to earn accreditation, the practice must adhere to very specific guidelines and document its procedures, he said.
“A board of our peers considers that we are doing good work,” Gibson said.
Still, Gibson said meeting those standards doesn't necessarily mean a patient is going to understand the process. While many medical tests such as an MRI or Cat Scan have become familiar terms to the public, people are not always familiar with nuclear medicine, he said.
“It has been around for a long time, but people don't really know about it,” Gibson said.
While nuclear imaging might not be at the top of the collective consciousness, heart disease usually is, said Rama Godishala, who is also a cardiologist with Auburn Cardiology.
Prevention is one of the best ways to combat the disease, he said. If they can catch an image that shows the beginning of a problem, they can work to delay any progression and improve a patient's quality of life, he said.
“The ultimate goal is community and patient education,” Godishala said. “We don't want to wait until symptoms develop or someone has a heart attack.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
But this procedure happens every day right in Auburn, and it is saving peoples' lives.
Myocardial perfusion imaging is a common medical practice that allows cardiologists to get a picture of the blood flow in a person's heart. Auburn Cardiology and Pulmonary Associates has been running a nuclear cardiology lab since 2005, and the lab recently earned accreditation by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories.
The point of the procedure, according to Nelly Kazzaz, one of the two cardiologists who work with the lab, is to detect blockages and other obstructions in the heart before they can cause serious problems.
“It's like a tagging system,” Kazzaz said. “We can take pictures of every area of the heart where the blood flows.”
A patient undergoing the three-hour procedure is closely supervised throughout the process. Patients come to the lab and are interviewed to make sure they have not taken any medications that would skew the results.
After an IV, they are injected with the isotope and a nurse takes their vitals. The lab technician then takes images of the heart while they are at rest. They then work on a treadmill until they reach a target heart rate. The heart rate can also be chemically induced if the patient is unable to walk or run on the treadmill.
The technician takes images of the heart in a stressed stage and compares them to the resting images. This allows the doctors to see differences and irregularities.
If there are problems, doctors and patients will work together on the proper treatment, Kazzaz said. If the scan comes back normal, the risk of having a heart attack within the next two or three years is less than 1 percent, she said.
“It is a big relief when we can tell patients something like that,” Kazzaz said.
Patients receive the imaging tests for various reasons - chest pain, family history of heart problems, high blood pressure or to check progress after a cardiac event. Some come in because they are scheduled for an unrelated surgery and the doctor wants to make sure they don't have any issues.
Some patients have reservations about the procedure, Kazzaz said. The word “nuclear” has all sorts of connotations.
While the doctors have to respect a patient's wishes not to undergo the tests, Kazzaz said the preventative benefits outweigh the very minimal risks.
“You get more radiation flying to California than you get here,” she said.
And according to the lab's technician, Daniel Gibson, the practice's recent board accreditation speaks to its safety and competency. In order to earn accreditation, the practice must adhere to very specific guidelines and document its procedures, he said.
“A board of our peers considers that we are doing good work,” Gibson said.
Still, Gibson said meeting those standards doesn't necessarily mean a patient is going to understand the process. While many medical tests such as an MRI or Cat Scan have become familiar terms to the public, people are not always familiar with nuclear medicine, he said.
“It has been around for a long time, but people don't really know about it,” Gibson said.
While nuclear imaging might not be at the top of the collective consciousness, heart disease usually is, said Rama Godishala, who is also a cardiologist with Auburn Cardiology.
Prevention is one of the best ways to combat the disease, he said. If they can catch an image that shows the beginning of a problem, they can work to delay any progression and improve a patient's quality of life, he said.
“The ultimate goal is community and patient education,” Godishala said. “We don't want to wait until symptoms develop or someone has a heart attack.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
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