Congestive heart failure exercise stress testing
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Exercise stress testing with an assessment of oxygen consumption is useful in assessing the functional capacity of the heart failure patient, angiography can exclude the presence of an ischemic basis for the disease, cardiac catheterization can evaluate hemodynamic basis of heart failure and the response to drug, and myocardial viability studies can determine whether hypocontractile myocardium is viable but just hibernating, and could therefore benefit from revascularization.
Exercise Stress Testing
Exercise stress testing is useful in measuring the "functional capacity" of heart failure patients. It is also helpful to assess the efficacy of congestive heart failure treatment.