Cardiovascular Stress Test Using Treadmill

Exercise testing is a cardiovascular stress test that uses treadmill bicycle exercise with electrocardiography (ECG) and blood pressure monitoring. Pharmacologic stress testing, established after exercise testing, is a diagnostic procedure in which cardiovascular stress induced by pharmacologic agents is demonstrated in patients with decreased functional capacity or in patients who cannot exercise. Pharmacologic stress testing is used in combination with imaging modalities such as radionuclide imaging and echocardiography.

Exercise stress testing, which is now widely available at a relatively low cost, is currently used most frequently to estimate prognosis and determine functional capacity, to assess the probability and extent of coronary disease, and to assess the effects of therapy. Ancillary techniques, such as metabolic gas analysis, radionuclide imaging (see the images below), and echocardiography, can provide further information that may be needed in selected patients, such as those with moderate or prior risk