MUGA vs EKG+Heart Ultrasound

[Kathy S in Tokyo]

I'll probably ask my oncologist about this on one of my weekly visits but I notice that patients on Herceptin in the States seem to get MUGAs to monitor the condition of the heart. My doctor has had me get ultrasounds of my heart and EKGs every three months to watch for any deterioration. I just started Herceptin in March and am going for my 4th treatment tomorrow and things are going well so far.

I wonder why the standard here seems to be ultrasound and EKG instead of MUGA.

Best to all,

[Grace]

Kathy--there's a thread on this subject lower down in this section with lots of information on Muga's verus echo's. Some doctors do order echo's, although the hypothesis is that Muga's are more precise. You can search on Muga or Echo.

[Kathy S in Tokyo]

Thanks Grace. That's just what I've been doing this evening instead of washing the dishes. :-)

[Grace]

I'm all for that! If I didn't have a dishwasher my dishes would be sitting in the sink since I discovered this site.