REPORTING TERMINOLOGY FOR NUCLEAR CARDIOLOGY

The most useful reporting phrase will cover the location and the shade of the cold/hot spot. You then say "resting studies are unchanged/show shade of reversibility/shade less prominent"

Then for any other area you say "with a further area".

The most useful phrase to blow things away is "non-uniformity" or "patchy tracer uptake that is unaltered".

The most useful conclusion will state "findings are most consistent with... but can't exclude..., though this is less likely".
An alternative for a caveat conclusion is:
" test is, at most, mildly positive for ... The defect may also be explainable by attenuation artifact".

OR..."The defect may also be partly explainable by attenuation artifact. Of note, no major area of reversibility is seen".


Useful phrases for reporting:

1. Post stress, there is a small area of mild-moderate hypoperfusion in the distal anterior wall that is less/more prominent at rest. The defect is present on both stress supine and prone images.

2. The exercise MIBI at a low/moderate/high workload did not demonstrate definite evidence of reversible ischaemia. A small amount of reversibility in the distal anterior wall most likely represents breast attentuation. However, in the clinical context of chest tightness, mild distal LAD ischaemia cannot be fully excluded.

3. An accurate LVEF could not be determined.

4. Possible prior moderate-sized infarcts in both the LAD and non-LAD territories.

5. "Patchy perfusion with relative hypoperfusion of the septum and relative hyperperfusion of the lateral wall" means that in the conclusion you will write " Findings are most consistent with a dilated cardiomyopathy".

6. "Relative septal hyperperfusion and relative lateral wall hypoperfusion that is reversible at rest" in the conclusion translates to " the exercise MIBI at a high level of haemodynamic strss does not demonstrate definite reversible ischaemia. Relative lateral wall hypoperfusion is most likely related to exercise induced hypertension".

7. The exercise MIBI study is consistent with a prior non-LAD territory infarct with a moderate amount of ischaemia in the left circumflex and distal LAD territories.

8. If you are not sure whether the findings are ischaemia, cardiomyopathy or a BBB, then write "the findings are explainable by LAD/non-LAD territory ischaemia, but the possibility of a BBB/DCM explaining these findings is significant".