STRESS TEST

What is a stress test?

A stress test is a type of electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). Regular ECGs examine how your heart beats at rest. Stress tests examine your heart’s response to exercise, or stress. There are many variations of stress tests. But the purpose of most stress tests is to find out if your heart is getting enough blood and oxygen. Stress tests are often done to reproduce symptoms like chest pain or shortness of breath. The test looks at:

• Heart rate
• Blood pressure
• Your heart’s electrical system

The test can show:

• If you have coronary artery disease (CAD)
• If you might be at risk for a heart attack
• The cause of symptoms like chest pain (angina)
• Whether you have irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias)
• Whether treatment-medications or an implanted device-has improved your heart and blood vessel function

In one of the simpler types of stress tests, you walk on a treadmill or pedal a stationary bike. You begin at an easy pace. The machine is slowly adjusted to make you work harder. You continue exercising until you feel symptoms or until you get too tired. A stress test is also known as an exercise test, a treadmill test, or an exercise ECG.

During a nuclear stress test, the technician or nurse inserts an intravenous (IV) line-usually in your arm. A small amount of a radioactive substance called thallium is injected through the IV into your bloodstream. Usually a nuclear stress test is done as part of a regular stress test, since the thallium can give your doctor more information about whether your heart gets enough blood and Oxygen. But a nuclear stress test can be done be done even if you are unable to exercise, since another medication can also be given to make your heart work harder. After the thallium is injected, you lie on a table underneath a special camera. The camera then takes images of your heart. Any part your heart that doesn’t receive enough blood and oxygen also receives less thallium therefore that part of your heart shows up as a lighter color on the image.

What can I expect?

When you have a stress test you undress from the waist up and put on a hospital gown. As many as 12 small patches called electrodes are placed on your chest, neck, arms, an legs. The electrodes connect to wires on the electrocardiogram (ECG). The machine then records the electrical activity in your heart from each of the electrodes. A blood pressure cuff is also put on your arm, and your blood pressure is checked often. If you have nuclear stress test, you will also have an IV inserted (usually into your arm)

A stress test itself does not usually cause any pain, although sometimes it reproduces painful symptoms. However the test gives you a workout, since you exercise until you’re very tired. Usually a nurse talks to you and gives you instructions throughout the test. The nurse continues to monitor your symptoms, your blood pressure, and your heart rate for about 10-15 minutes after you stop exercising.