Radionuclide Angiogram (RNA)

Your physician has referred you to the Diagnostic Services Department at United Hospital Center for a procedure known as a radionuclide angiogram, or simply RNA.

An RNA exam is a Nuclear Medicine procedure used to evaluate the wall motion of your heart and to determine the percentage of blood being pumped out with each beat. The exam is frequently used before chemotherapy to establish a baseline of how your heart is functioning. Follow up exams are performed after chemotherapy to determine if the drugs are causing any reduction in cardiac output. Images are taken with a camera that is very sensitive to radioactivity. A small amount of a radioactive tracer is injected into the blood stream and the camera produces an image. There is no prep for this procedure and there is no side effect from the tracer. You may eat before the exam and take all your medications.

You will arrive in the Diagnostic Services Department, where a technologist will have you change into a hospital gown. A small IV needle will be inserted into a vein in your arm and some blood will be drawn into a syringe. This blood will tag to the radioactive tracer after approximately 15 minutes. The blood will be re-injected back through the IV line and the line will be removed from your arm. You will be placed on a table in one of the imaging rooms and three EKG leads will be attached to your chest. The camera will be at a 45-degree angle to the left side of your chest for about 15 minutes while the camera acquires your images. At this point, the EKG leads will be removed and you will be free to leave. The results are read by a radiologist and sent to your physician.

LENGTH: Approximately 45 minutes

If you are pregnant, or think you might be, tell your doctor and the technologist BEFORE the exam.