The common approach for stress testing by American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association indicates the following: Treadmill test: sensitivity 73-90%, specificity 50-74% (Modified Bruce protocol) Nuclear test: sensitivity 81%, specificity 85-95% (Sensitivity is the percentage of people with the condition who are correctly identified by the test as having the condition. Specificity is the percentage of people without the condition are correctly identified by the test as not having the condition). To arrive at the patient's post-test likelihood of disease, interpretation of the stress test result requires integration of the patient's pre-test likelihood with the test's sensitivity and specificity. This approach, first described by Diamond and Forrester in the 1970s, results in an estimate of the patient's post-test likelihood of disease. The value of stress tests has always been recognized as limited in assessing heart disease such as atherosclerosis, a c...
A cardiac stress test (also referred to as a cardiac diagnostic test , cardiopulmonary exercise test , or abbreviated CPX test ) is a cardiological test that measures the heart's ability to respond to external stress in a controlled clinical environment. The stress response is induced by exercise or by intravenous pharmacological stimulation. Cardiac stress tests compare the coronary circulation while the patient is at rest with the same patient's circulation during maximum cardiac exertion, showing any abnormal blood flow to the myocardium (heart muscle tissue). The results can be interpreted as a reflection on the general physical condition of the test patient. This test can be used to diagnose coronary artery disease (also known as ischemic heart disease) and assess patient prognosis after a myocardial infarction (heart attack). Exercise-induced stressors are most commonly either exercise on a treadmill or pedalling a stationary exercise bicycle ergometer. The level of stre...
The American Heart Association recommends ECG treadmill testing as the first choice for patients with medium risk of coronary heart disease according to risk factors of smoking, family history of coronary artery stenosis, hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol. In 2013, in its "Exercise Standards for Testing and Training", the AHA indicated that high frequency QRS analysis during ECG treadmill test have useful test performance for detection of coronary heart disease. Perfusion stress test (with 99mTc labelled sestamibi) is appropriate for select patients, especially those with an abnormal resting electrocardiogram. Intracoronary ultrasound or angiogram can provide more information at the risk of complications associated with cardiac catheterization.
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