Exercise Stress Test
(Also known as Treadmill Test, Exercise Test, Exercise Cardiac Stress Test, and ECST)
A stress test shows how your heart works during physical activity. As your body works harder during the test, it requires more oxygen, so the heart must pump more blood. This test can show if the blood supply is reduced in the arteries that supply the heart.
During the test, you may be walking on a treadmill. You will be hooked up to equipment that will monitor your heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and an electrocardiogram, which is a test used to record the electrical activity in your heart. The stress test may be used to diagnose problems with your heart, guide treatment decisions, or measure the effectiveness of treatment.
A stress test is conducted to learn more about the following:
- Helps diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD).
- Helps diagnose the possible cause of symptoms such as chest pain (angina).
- Helps determine your safe level of exercise.
- Helps predict dangerous heart-related conditions such as heart attack.
Thallium Stress Test (MPI or MUGA)
(Also known as Myocardial Perfusion Imaging (MPI), Multigated Acquisition (MUGA) Scan, Radionuclide Stress Test and Nuclear Stress Test)
Similar to a routine exercise stress test but with images a Thallium stress test (MPI or MUGA) uses a radioactive substance called thallium injected into the bloodstream when a patient is at the maximum level of exercise to take pictures with a special (gamma) camera of the heart's muscle cells. The test is also known as a Myocardial Perfusion Imaging (MPI), Multigated Acquisition (MUGA) Scan, Radionuclide Stress Test and Nuclear Stress Test.
Theses test are performed for the following reasons:
- Helps measure the blood flow of your heart muscle at rest and during stress.
- Helps determine the extent of coronary artery blockage.
- Helps determine the extent of damage from a heart attack.
- Helps determine the cause of chest pain (angina).
- Helps determine the level of safe exercise for patients.