Editing Cardiac stress test (section)

== Stress testing and echocardiography ==
A stress test may be accompanied by [[echocardiography]].<ref name="Rimmerman2009">{{cite book|last=Rimmerman|first=Curtis|title=The Cleveland Clinic Guide to Heart Attacks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3k3fLOjUNEC&pg=PA113|access-date=25 September 2011|date=2009-05-05|publisher=Kaplan Publishing|isbn=978-1-4277-9968-5|pages=113–}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The echocardiography is performed both before and after the exercise so that structural differences can be compared.

A resting echocardiogram is obtained prior to stress. The ultrasound images obtained are similar to the ones obtained during a full surface echocardiogram, commonly referred to as [[transthoracic echocardiogram]]. The patient is subjected to stress in the form of exercise or chemically (often [[dobutamine]]). After the target heart rate is achieved, 'stress' echocardiogram images are obtained. The two echocardiogram images are then compared to assess for any abnormalities in wall motion of the heart. This is used to detect obstructive coronary artery disease.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stress echocardiography: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia |url=https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007150.htm |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=medlineplus.gov |language=en}}</ref>