Turkish Journal of
GERIATRICS

Hacettepe Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Nükleer Tıp Anabilim Dalı, ANKARA Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in most of the countries. Although the disease starts at an early age, it becomes symptomatic in middle age and in the elders. Besides the trauma of the disease to the patient and his family members, it causes a huge burden to the economy. The most accepted reason of the decrease of death rate in western countries is; early diagnosis and prompt treatment both medically and surgically. However the atypical symptoms of the disease in the elders causes diagnostic problems. Also every diagnostic test is not suitable to them. In this review, myocardial perfusion scintigraphy, a noninvaziv functional imaging method and its importance in clinics is going to be discussed. Keywords : Coronary heart disease, Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy, Geriatrics.