MUGA Scan

Your doctor has ordered a MUGA scan, which stands for MultiGated blood-pool imaging. The purpose of this test is to examine how well your heart is functioning as a pump. An intravenous (I.V.) line will be inserted for the test, and technetium, a radioactive substance which labels or "tags" red blood cells so they can be seen, will be administered. By counting these cells over numerous cardiac cycles, a nuclear camera can create an image of the heart's chambers and the larger blood vessels leading to and from it. You will be hooked to an ECG monitor, and asked to lie very still. The information obtained from this test will tell us how much blood the heart ejects with each contraction (ejection fraction or E.F.), and how quickly this blood is ejected.