Two strategies are commonly used in pharmacologic stress tests. In one, the medication used -- dobutamine, which acts like adrenaline and is sometimes combined with atropine -- increases the amount of work the heart does, thereby increasing its need for oxygen-rich blood, much as exercise does. Echocardiography is generally used to monitor abnormalities induced by dobutamine. A second strategy is to give dipyridamole (Persantine) or adenosine (Adenocard), medications that cause the coronary arteries to widen, producing a fourfold increase in blood flow. Blood flow does not increase normally in blocked arteries. Nuclear imaging is usually used to detect blockages revealed by dipyridamole or adenosine.
Pharmacologic stress tests aren't for everyone. People with asthma, emphysema, carotid artery disease, or aortic stenosis should not take dipyridamole or adenosine, while anyone with uncontrolled hypertension or abnormal heart rhythms.
Two strategies are commonly used in pharmacologic stress tests. In
one, the medication used -- dobutamine, which acts like adrenaline
and is sometimes combined with atropine -- increases the amount of
work the heart does, thereby increasing...
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Dr. Anthony Komaroff answered:Two strategies are commonly used in pharmacologic stress tests. In one, the medication used -- dobutamine, which acts like adrenaline and is sometimes combined with atropine -- increases the amount of work the heart does, thereby increasing its need for oxygen-rich blood, much as exercise does. Echocardiography is generally used to monitor abnormalities induced by dobutamine. A second strategy is to give dipyridamole (Persantine) or adenosine (Adenocard), medications that cause the coronary arteries to widen, producing a fourfold increase in blood flow. Blood flow does not increase normally in blocked arteries. Nuclear imaging is usually used to detect blockages revealed by dipyridamole or adenosine.