Cardiac Stress Test

Many people worry when their Doctors tell them that they need to undergo a Cardiac Stress Test. They worry that they do not know what to expect, and they worry that they will not pass the test, as well as what will happen to them should they fail the test and suffer a cardiac arrest in the middle of one.

Actually there are two types of Cardiac Stress Tests, and your Doctor will know which to order for you depending on the Cardiac Stress Test that the Doctor feels you would be more apt to be able to withstand without putting you through a test that first they feel you cannot withstand, and secondarily a test that will tell your cardiologist the most information.

The first type of Cardiac Stress Test is one where you will be hooked up to a machine that will indirectly reflect the arterial blood flow to your heart during physical exercise. When the Doctor compares the blood flow during rest, the test will reflect the imbalances that occur to your heart’s left ventricular muscle tissues, for those are the ones that perform the greatest amount of work when it comes to pumping blood.

You will be expected to walk on a treadmill while an ECG (electrocardiogram machine) and blood pressure is carefully monitored. An ECG will perform this monitoring through 12 different leads that are attached to your body. None of this will really be painful. The “stress” part comes into play as in three minute intervals your exercise is changed by asking your body to move with more difficulty by adjustments made to the treadmill such as changing its incline or its speed.

The second type of Cardiac Stress Test is accomplished through an intravenous (IV) method that uses medication to simulate a stress test via exercising you pharmacologically by giving you vasodilators and a radiotracer that will then be used with a gamma camera to take pictures of your coronary arteries. Though you will feel your heart race as if you had taken exercise, this test too is totally painless as well. This kind of test will be given to you instead of the treadmill if you cannot walk properly or if you have certain risks of coronary disease, such as hypertension, high cholesterol or have diabetes.

Should either test show abnormalities in your heart’s reaction to the stress you may be told that you are in need of a heart (cardiac) catheterization. A heart cath, as it is referred to is also painless, though you will need to have that performed in the hospital under local anesthesia.

The cardiologist may discover that the pictures were erroneous during your Cardiac Stress Test or that you have some sort of cardiac blockage such as wall thickening due to plaque which may indicate further tests or possible cardiac interventions such as stents and such.

Regardless of the findings, you will be thankful for them, as they may either put your mind to rest regarding cardiac complications or the medical miracles that are available to you today may perhaps be a life saver for you!

I thought you may be interested in reading some of the bullet points contained in this post about depression pictures

Cardiac Stress Test

abnormal cardiac stress test

Cardiac Stress Test

Related Articles: