Stress Testing

Stress tests are utilized to gather information about how the heart responds to stress. They are generally done to detect the presence of coronary disease or monitor known cardiac conditions. Most stress tests involve exercise on a treadmill with EKG monitoring. There are multiple ways to perform stress tests and your cardiologist will determine which is the best test for you.  The types of tests include exercise treadmill stress tests which monitor for EKG changes during exercise, stress echo tests which use EKG and echo imaging to evaluate for blocked arteries, and nuclear stress tests which uses a radioisotope to assess blood flow to the heart muscle. For patients who are unable to exercise we utilize nuclear perfusion imagine combined with medication to stress the heart. In all stress tests the patient will be continually monitored for EKG changes, blood pressure and symptoms.