Stress Test find out more about stress test
What is stress test?
A stress test demonstrates the effect that exercise has on your heart. In a standard stress test, the patient walks on a treatmill while being monitored by an electrocardiogram (ECG) and blood pressure readings. This measures your heart's reaction to your body's increased need for oxygen.
The test continues until you reach a target heart rate, unless complications such as chest pain or an exaggerated rise in blood pressure develop. The heart is monitored for 10 to 15 minutes after exercising, or until it returns to its baseline heartbeat.
A stress test is performed to determine causes of chest pain, the exercise capacity of the heart, appropriate exercise levels in those beginning an exercise program, and to identify rhythm disturbances during exercise. There may be additional reasons that your health care provider requests this test.
What Are the Types of Stress Tests?
There are many different types of stress tests, including:
- Treadmill stress test: As long as you can walk and have a normal ECG, this is normally the first stress test performed. You walk on a treadmill while being monitored to see how far you walk and if you develop chest pain or changes in your ECG that suggest that your heart is not getting enough blood.
- Dobutamine or Adenosine Stress Test: This test is used in people who are unable to exercise. A drug is given to make the heart respond as if the person were exercising. This way the doctor can still determine how the heart responds to stress, but no exercise is required.
- Stress echocardiogram: An echocardiogram (often called "echo") is a graphic outline of the heart's movement. A stress echo can accurately visualize the motion of the heart's walls and pumping action when the heart is stressed; it may reveal a lack of blood flow that isn't always apparent on other heart tests.
- Nuclear stress test: This test helps to determine which parts of the heart are healthy and function normally and which are not. A small amount of radioactive substance is injected into the patient. Then the doctor uses a special camera to identify the rays emitted from the substance within the body; this produces clear pictures of the heart tissue on a monitor. These pictures are done both at rest and after exercise. Using this technique, areas of the heart that have a decreased blood supply can be detected.