Overview
Although stress cardiac imaging has improved our ability to diagnose coronary artery disease and determine risk for future cardiac events, exercise testing alone remains a valuable tool for guiding patient management. Exercise testing can be helpful in the evaluation of patients with valvular heart disease, palpitations, arrhythmias, and chest pain, especially when the likelihood of coronary artery disease is low.
The duration of exercise, peak heart rate and blood pressure, as well as the electrocardiographic response are each important descriptors of disease and outcome.
Exercise testing is available at both Fletcher Allen Medical Center as well as at our outpatient facilities on Tilley Drive in South Burlington. Treadmill machines are available at both facilities. For patients unable to use a treadmill, Bicycle ergometry is available at the Medical Center. In unusual situations involving patients with lower extremity disability and when exercise rather than pharmacologic stress is prederable, arm exercise stress testing is available at the Medical Center.
