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Myocardial Perfusion Scintigraphy in Acute Chest Pain: Current Status and Limitations

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Integrating Cardiology for Nuclear Medicine Physicians

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Abstract

Patients with acute chest pain or symptoms suggestive of myocardial ischemia account for a large number of emergency department (ED) visits, approximately 7 million every year in the USA. Over 5 million of these patients are admitted to the hospital [1]. However, only a minority of these patients have symptoms truly due to ischemic heart disease. The remainder does not require admission to the hospital and may cause a tremendous strain on limited economic resources. When the symptoms are classic and accompanied by diagnostic electrocardiographic changes, the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome is straightforward. However, in patients with non-diagnostic ECG changes and classic or non-classic symptoms, appropriate decision making becomes more difficult. This dilemma has led to the exploration of newer diagnostic methods to appropriately risk-stratify patients in a cost-effective and time-sensitive manner.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Brody School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiology, East Carolina University, 28858-4354, Greenville, NC, USA

    Priya Velappan & Assad Movahed

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  1. Priya Velappan
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  2. Assad Movahed
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Brody School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiology, East Carolina University, 600 Moye Blvd., 27858-4354, Greenville, NC, USA

    Assad Movahed

  2. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, St. Thomas Street, SE1 9RT, London, UK

    Gopinath Gnanasegaran

  3. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, NW3 2QG, London, UK

    John Buscombe  & Margaret Hall  & 

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Velappan, P., Movahed, A. (2009). Myocardial Perfusion Scintigraphy in Acute Chest Pain: Current Status and Limitations. In: Movahed, A., Gnanasegaran, G., Buscombe, J., Hall, M. (eds) Integrating Cardiology for Nuclear Medicine Physicians. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78674-0_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78674-0_26

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-78673-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-78674-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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