What are basic tests a cardiologist can do?

What type of stress tests does a cardiologist order?

• Answer:

  Stress tests gauge how well your heart reacts to physical stress. Doctors use these tests to determine the existence of heart problems. Several different types of tests exist and they look to see how much your heart can sustain before it develops an abnormal rhythm or experiences reduced blood flow to its muscle.ECGECG stress tests are the most common stress test, according to WebMD.com. Exercise electrocardiograms (ECG) measure how well your heart responds to physical exertion.Exercise EchocardiogramsExercise echocardiogram stress tests typically involve walking on a treadmill while hooked up to an echocardiogram---a machine that uses sound waves to created a detailed, moving picture of your heart. Your doctor will also perform an echocardiogram before and after you begin exercising to compare.DobutamineIf you cannot exercise, your doctor can give you intravenous Dobutamine---a medication that causes your heart to act as if you were engaging in exercise.Nuclear Stress TestNuclear stress tests can determine if any parts of the heart experience reduced blood flow. Doctors inject a small amount of radioactive tracer into your body during exercise. The tracer highlights the heart tissue and allows doctors to identify areas of reduced blood flow.PersatineThis test combines the medication Persatine with the radioactive tracer. Doctors use this test for people who cannot engage in physical activity. The medication causes changes in the heart similar to exercise.Source:http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/stress-test--(dupe)http://www.greenhosp.org/pe_pdf/cardiology_stress.pdf