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Title: non-invasive cardiac imaging and radiation

Keywords: radiation, coronary artery disease, stress testing, cardiac testing (PubMed Search)

Posted: 4/29/2012 by Amal Mattu, MD

Here's some numbers to consider regarding typical radiation exposre associated with cardiac imaging tests relative to naturally occurring background radiation exposure:

Test type             Relative exposure
Naturally occurring annual background radiation
   exposure for a person living in the US (~ 3 mSv)                                  1
Coronary artery calcium score                                                                0.5
Cardiac CT angiography                                                                         1-4
Nuclear stress test (single-photon emission CT)                                 3-4
Exercise treadmiil testing (with no imaging)                                           0
Cardiac MRI/echocardiogram                                                               0

[above estimates are typical, but may vary between individuals and among different centers]

References

Blankstein R. Introduction to noninvasive cardiac imaging. Circulation 2012;125:e267-3271.