STRESS ECHOCARDIOGRAM

Stress echocardiogram (stress echocardiogram) is a provocative test that, through the use of a physical (pedaling) or pharmacological stimulus, allows for an increase in the contractility, frequency and workload of the heart, to study the behaviour of the muscle under stress and evaluate any clinical suffering.

What is it for and when is it done?

Stress echocardiography may be prescribed for:

• define or exclude ischemic heart disease (coronary artery disease);

• follow up following coronary treatment (angioplasty or bypass) or after a myocardial infarction

• plan a revascularization intervention by investigating myocardial viability;

• to study a valvular disease, aortic or mitral, when the baseline echocardiogram presents doubts and is not conclusive.

How the test is performed

After the anamnesis has been collected, the patient is prepared for blood pressure monitoring and for the electrocardiogram, which are active throughout the examination, and is made to lie down on the bed, where he is subjected to a continuous echocardiogram. The subject begins to pedal or in the case of the pharmacological test (a drug will be injected at increasing doses) to verify the changes in the contractility of the heart walls (assessed by echocardiography) and the electrocardiogram, the result suggests that in the area, under stress, ischemia may occur. In this case, the specialist may suggest continuing the diagnostic-therapeutic path with a coronary angiography. Otherwise, the result is negative and usually no further tests are performed.

After the test, the patient is monitored, waiting for any cardiac distress to normalize and, subsequently, can return to his daily activities. The test lasts approximately 30 to 45 minutes.