Pre-Transplant: MUGA Scan

The MUGA scan is a nuclear medicine imaging test and stands for Multi-Gated Acquisition.  Like the EKG, this is also a cardio test, however its focus is on overall heart health by evaluating the ratio of blood ejected from your heart compared to blood intake (analysis of the right and left ventricles).


An IV is inserted in your arm so that a small amount of blood can be collected.  This sample is mixed with a tracer chemical, and then returned to your blood stream.  After a 20 minute wait to circulate the tracer, your heart is scanned to measure the intake and ejection ratios.  The only discomfort associated with this test is the insertion of the IV, which is normally equal to the pain of giving a blood sample during lab work even though the IV stays in for a longer period of time (20 minutes vs. 1-2 minutes).  The scanning portion of the test is similar to an X-Ray – there is no sensation of pain or discomfort from it.

MUGA Scan – Teri	Type	Rating	Duration
Tourniquet	Pressure	3	1-2 min.
IV needle insertion	Sharp stick	2	1-5 sec.
Wait time	None	0	20 min.
Scan	None	0	30 sec.

MUGA Scan –	Type	Rating	Duration
Tourniquet
IV needle insertion
Wait time
Scan