Stress Echocardiography
A stress echocardiogram, also known as a stress echo or SE, utilizes ultrasound imaging of the heart to assess the wall motion in response to physical stress. First, images of the heart are taken "at rest" to acquire a baseline of the patient's wall motion at a resting heart rate. The patient then walks on a treadmill or utilizes another exercise modality to increase the heart rate to their target heart rate, or 80% of the age predicted max heart rate (age predicted max heart rate = 220 − patient's age). Finally, images of the heart are taken "at stress" to assess wall motion at the peak heart rate. A stress echo assesses wall motion of the heart; it does not, however, image the coronary arteries directly. Ischemia of one or more coronary arteries could cause a wall motion abnormality which could indicate coronary artery disease (CAD). The gold standard test to directly image the coronary arteries and directly assess for stenosis or occlusion is a cardiac catheterization. A stress echo is a non-invasive test and is performed in the presence of a licensed medical professional, such as a cardiologist, and a cardiac sonographer.
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