St. Louis resident Shirley Rice (center) completes a state-of-the-art heart stress test at St. Anthony’s with the help of nuclear medicine technologist Antoinette Mignerone, CNMT, (left) and assistant Shirley Bolton (right).
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Visit St. Anthony's on YouTube to hear our nuclear medicine technologist describe what to expect during a nuclear stress test.
First in the Midwest
St. Anthony's offers high-tech imaging system for heart tests
Go with the flow! A nuclear stress test measures blood flow to the heart.
Heart & Vascular Center
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“This was easy.” St. Louis resident Shirley Rice smiles as she sits up after completing a comprehensive diagnostic imaging test that visualizes how blood flows through her heart. The test, called a myocardial perfusion imaging stress test or nuclear stress test, specifically looks for blockages in blood vessels or damage to the heart. It is performed when doctors suspect coronary artery disease and is noninvasive, quick and painless. St. Anthony's was the first in the Midwest to install an advanced nuclear imaging system, which improves the image quality using reduced exposure to radiation and takes images in one-third the time of a traditional imaging system. It takes 19 images at once and more than 60 full-color still and moving images for each patient.
“The main benefit is that it shows doctors highly detailed images that can help them determine the right diagnosis and treatment, and it may even postpone or reduce the need for surgical procedures or more expensive and invasive diagnostic tests,” says Antoinette Mignerone, CNMT, a certified nuclear medicine technologist and section chief of St. Anthony's Nuclear Medicine Department. “It complements our expertise as an accredited Chest Pain Center and shows that we are committed to providing the very best in heart care in terms of both diagnostic testing and treatment.”
For information, please call our Health Access Line at 314-ANTHONY (268-4669) or 800-554-9550 or visit find a physician online.
At St. Anthony's, our vision is to be the area's premier health care organization
— and your first choice for health care services.
