Patient exposure to ionising radiation due to nuclear medicine cardiac procedures.

Nuclear cardiology procedures are among the most extensively performed radionuclide studies. Procedures for the assessment of myocardial perfusion, contractile function and metabolism have gained a prominent position in clinical practice. Health risk to patients from radiopharmaceuticals results only from exposure to ionizing radiation. Nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures,including the cardiological ones, are accompanied by a very small risk of radiation induced malignant tumours. Death risk from stress and rest perfusion of myocardium (effective dose of about 10 mSv) could be estimated as lower than 0.1 per mille.