Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography

Overview

Reasons for the Procedure

As previously mentioned, some reasons for your physician to request a dobutamine stress echocardiogram include, but are not limited to, the following:

• to assess the heart's function and structures
  
  
• to determine limits for safe exercise in patients who are entering a cardiac rehabilitation program and/or those who are recovering from a cardiac event, such as MI or heart surgery
  
  
• to evaluate blood pressure during stress testing
  
  
• to assess stress or exercise tolerance in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease
  
  
• to evaluate the cardiac status of a patient about to undergo surgery

Risks of the Procedure

Because of the stress the heart incurs during the test, there is a small chance for chest pain, heart attack, severely high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, dizziness, nausea, and extreme fatigue.

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