Load test
How our heart reacts to physical exertion
One of the ways you can tell whether your heart is healthy is by how it reacts to stress. Here you will learn about various stress tests. You will also find out what you need to bear in mind.
We use bicycle and treadmill exercise, i.e. ergometry, to clarify your known or suspected heart disease. If you are unable to exert yourself physically, the heart can be stressed with medication using a dobutamine infusion.
Nowadays, these stress tests are usually combined with echocardiography, i.e. cardiac ultrasound (stress echocardiography). This makes it easier to diagnose circulatory disorders of the heart muscle. Cardiac ultrasound can also be used to detect additional causes of breathlessness/shortness of breath, such as stiffness of the heart (diastolic dysfunction), an increase in pulmonary pressure (pulmonary hypertension), an obstruction to blood flow due to a thick heart muscle or a pericardial effusion (pericardial effusion).
During the exercise test, pulse, blood pressure and oxygen saturation are continuously measured in addition to ECG monitoring and the exercise test is aborted if certain values are exceeded. Stress tests with physical exertion or dobutamine infusion are very safe.
In the case of poor image quality during cardiac ultrasound or special issues (scar, myocarditis, etc.), an MR heart can be performed and, using an adenosine or regadenoson infusion, circulatory disorders can also be detected with the MR heart.
