A “stress echo” is a combination of an Echocardiography and exercise test. It compares how your heart muscle is pumping before and after exercise. This test takes approximately 40 minutes. A Dobutamine stress echo ( DSE )is performed when your doctor feels that it is inappropriate for you to exercise on the treadmill. Dobutamine is a medication administered to place your heart under a similar amount of strain as would be achieved with exercise. This information can assist your cardiologist in assessing the state of your heart muscle and the arteries feeding that muscle During the procedure, you will be weighed to calculate the appropriate dose of Dobutamine. Next, a small intravenous line will be inserted by a nurse. You will also be connected to an ECG machine for the duration of the test.
The cardiac sonographer will begin by taking images of your heart whilst at rest. A water-soluble gel is used as a contact medium between the probe and your chest wall to improve image quality. You will feel pressure on your chest where the sonographer is imaging. You will then be given an intravenous infusion of Dobutamine and the medication will be increased every 2 minutes. At certain intervals, more images of your heart will be acquired.
You can expect to feel your heart pounding and possibly even some tingling sensations in your face as a result of the medication. Your cardiologist will be present throughout this part of the test and your blood pressure, heart rate and symptoms will be constantly monitored.
When your heart rate has increased sufficiently or at the cardiologist’s discretion, the Dobutamine infusion will be ceased. The cardiologist will compare the resting images of your heart with those taken at each interval.