Stress Echocardiogram

Stress echocardiogram. Some heart problems — particularly those involving the coronary arteries that supply blood to your heart muscle — occur only during physical activity. For a stress echocardiogram, ultrasound images of your heart are taken before and immediately after walking on a treadmill. If you're unable to exercise, you may get an injection of a medication to make your heart work as hard as if you were exercising.

After undressing from the waist up and putting a gown on.  The treadmill technician will attach sticky patches (electrodes) to your body to help detect and conduct the electrical currents of your heart.  The sonographer will obtain images of your heart (left ventricle) before getting on the treadmill.  The cardiologist will then be present when you're on the treadmill.  We will encourage you to do your best,  if you have trouble on the treadmill just tell us.  We are trying to get  your heart rate to a certain point.   Once you reach that point we ask that you lie on the bed and the sonographer will obtain images of your heart beating fast.

During a stress echocardiogram, exercise or medication — not the echocardiogram itself — may temporarily cause an irregular heartbeat. Serious complications, such as a heart attack, are rare.

If you'll be walking on a treadmill during a stress echocardiogram, you should wear:

• Comfortable clothing
• Don’t wear a dress
• Comfortable shoes
• No heels