“Nuclear” and “cardiology,” are two words that are rife with less-than-pleasant connotations.
The word “nuclear” can instantly conjure up images of extreme danger while the word “cardiology” brings on thoughts of serious life-threatening heart problems.
To Indian River Medical Center cardiologist Dr. Vik Gongidi, however, nuclear cardiology is just one of many weapons he uses to combat heart disease at his Sebastian office.
“It’s basically just a screening tool,” Gongidi calmly explains.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects that approximately 715,000 people in the United States will have a heart attack brought on by coronary artery disease this year and another 795,000 will suffer a stroke. That’s well over 1.5 million Americans annually.
Clearly every tool in the cardiology toolbox is needed to bring those numbers down.
Gongidi, a young and extremely personable graduate of the Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in California, is not only board-certified in cardiovascular disease, adult comprehensive echocardiography, (sonograms of the heart), and in internal medicine but in nuclear cardiology as well. He sums up his self-imposed mission simply.
“Basically,” Gongidi states, “my job is to prevent patients from having heart attacks and strokes.”
To that end, Gongidi also employs electrocardiograms or EKGs, computerized tomography or CT scans as well as magnetic resonance imaging or MRIs along with the aforementioned nuclear stress tests.
The first question someone might ask is: “What makes a stress test nuclear?”
According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, during a nuclear cardiological stress test, a very small amount of a radioactive tracer or radiopharmaceutical such as Technetium is injected into the patient’s veins which then finds its way to the heart.
A highly sensitive gamma camera then films the heart both at rest and after exercise or medication-induced activity to identify any blockages or other signs of problems within the heart muscle and arteries.
The next question that might be asked is: “How much radioactive material is in that injection?”
The answer, from the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging is, not very much. Not very much at all.
“The actual weight of the radioactivity,” according to the society’s website, “is less than 1/10th of a billionth of an ounce.”
(This same basic procedure, incidentally, is also used to determine if the brain is receiving an adequate blood supply and if brain cells are functioning properly as well as determining if the kidneys, stomach, lung function, vitamin absorption and even bone density are in order. All these procedures have received FDA approval.)
Gongidi puts the radiation hazard in terms any Floridian can understand. “You’ve got to remember,” this general cardiologist explains, “that every day you’re out in the sun there’s also a general background of radiation.”
“Patients,” Gongidi continues, “don’t have any significant side effects.” Then he adds: “A nuclear stress test has about the same amount” of radiation as a regular CT scan.
While the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health says that coronary artery disease remains the leading cause of death for both men and women in this country, Gongidi interjects that here on the Treasure Coast, “Arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation are also another big issue. Nationwide,” he adds, “hypertension is another major concern.”
With such staggeringly large numbers of heart attacks and strokes occurring each year, it’s not surprising that even newer technologies are constantly being introduced into the world of cardiology and Gongidi is clearly tuned-in to that as well.
“There are actually a lot of exciting things coming out in terms of imaging,” he exclaims. “There’s cardiac CT that we do now. It gives us “functionality,” meaning we can look at an artery and look at where the blockage is. It’s kind of like a non-invasive angiogram that we actually do now at IRMC.”
Then this multi-certified heart doctor adds: “There is also cardiac MRI, which we don’t [currently] do in this area. It’s again a specialty and it gives us more information about the heart muscle itself.”
Accurate and early diagnosis combined with teamwork, according to Gongidi, is the best way to combat all potentially lethal heart problems.
“I tell my patients this is a team. I’m not giving you orders. It’s teamwork. If you don’t want to do it, then that’s your prerogative but this is my recommendation. How much you want to be involved is up to you.”
Considering the stakes, playing ball on Gongidi’s team might just keep that ticker ticking while also taking strokes off your life’s scorecard.
Dr. Vikranth (Vik) Gongidi is with Indian River Medical Center cardiology. His Sebastian office is at 801 Wellness Way, Suite 203 in Sebastian. IRMC cardiology in Vero Beach can also be reached at 772-778-8687.
