MUGA SCAN: RESTING

A MUGA (multi-gated acquisition) scan is a nuclear imaging study that shows how much blood your heart is pumping and how well the walls of your heart are contracting.

What should I expect?

Your technologist will take a small amount of blood from your vein (usually from your arm). This drawn blood is mixed with a radioisotope in the lab that binds to your red blood cells.  This process is called labeling. The treated blood is injected back into the vein in your arm and allows us to image where the red blood cells go in your body.

After labeling your red blood cells, the technologist will take pictures of your heart while you are connected to an electrocardiogram (EKG) machine. Although the imaging for this exam takes approximately 30 minutes, plan to be in our department for approximately 75 minutes for this exam.