Stress Test: A stress test is also called an exercise, heart or cardiac stress test. This test checks how your heart works under stress and can show if there is blockage in your blood vessels. You will either be given medicine, or you will exercise on a treadmill or an exercise bike.

Your doctor has scheduled you for a stress test with:

• Medicine
• Exercise

Arrive on time for your test:The test takes about 1 hour. Plan on being here about 2 hours.

To Prepare

• For the stress test with exercise, bring walking shoes and loose-fitting clothing so you can move easily. You can wear a hospital gown.
• You may drink water, but do not drink liquids with caffeine. Caffeine is in regular and decaf coffee, tea, chocolate and soft drinks.
• If you are to take your medicines the morning of the test, take them with sips of water only.
• Do not smoke or use tobacco for at least 4 hours before your test. Smoking can affect your test results.
• Nitroglycerin tablets or spray may be used for chest pain as needed.
• Bring a list of your medicines. Be sure to include any prescriptions and over-thecounter medicines, vitamins and herbs you take.

During the test

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• You are asked to change into your exercise clothes or a hospital gown.
• Small pads are put on your chest to check your heart rate. For men, chest hair may need to be shaved
• You may be asked to:
• Breathe in as deeply as you can and then blow air out as fast as you can.
• Breathe normally and then take in as big a breath as you can.
• You may be given medicine to inhale and have more testing to see the effect of the medicine.
• Tell the staff if you need to rest during the test.
• A blood pressure cuff is put on your arm. Your blood pressure and heart rate are checked often.
• Tell the staff right away if you have any shortness of breath or chest pain.

For a Stress Test with Medicine:

• An IV (intravenous) is put in a vein in your arm.
• The medicine that stresses your heart is put into your IV
• When a certain heart rate is reached, the test ends.

For a Stress Test with Exercise

• You exercise by walking on a treadmill or riding an exercise bike
• The exercise gets harder every few minutes.
• When you are too tired or a certain heart rate is reached, the test ends.

After the test

• You are asked to sit and rest a few minutes.
• When you go home, you may return to your normal activity
• Test results are sent to your doctor. Your doctor will share the results with you.

Talk to your doctor or nurse if you have any concern & questions.

Treadmill test (TMT) or exercise stress test is one of the commonest forms of stress tests for diagnostic evaluation of coronary artery disease. The cardiac stress test is done with heart stimulation, by exercise on a treadmill. The level of mechanical stress is progressively increased by adjusting the difficulty (steepness of the slope) and speed. The test administrator or attending physician examines the symptoms and blood response. The TMT machine uses special algorithms and measures multiple risk factors which can be reported simultaneously, giving a comprehensive view of the risk, and also can assess the risk of Sudden Cardiac Death