The most important tool cardiologists use to diagnose heart diseases of any kind is the stress test. When a stress test is performed, a doctor will work with trained technicians to achieve the best results possible. There are several different tests that each have their own individual and highly specific requirements. The degree of reliability for a cardiac stress test is influenced by the test as well as other conditions. Doctors need to discover how much stress the heart is able to manage before it is impacted by the stress. The exercise stress test, while best suited for a specific application, is the one that most people are familiar with.

Even if a heavier load is placed on it, your heart still needs to be healthy enough to perform correctly. While there are many reasons a doctor would require a stress test, none of them are for anything other than ascertaining the health and normalcy of your heart. The simple treadmill / exercise stress test is used a lot in medicine, nowadays. The machine of choice can vary as it can be a treadmill or a stationary bike. During the test, leads are connected to the chest to ascertain what the electrical activity of the heart is. The ECG or electrocardiogram will reveal whether the heart is normal and healthy. The doctor will also be able to see in the ECG if you are having trouble with your heart. A cardiac stress test is given mainly because the doctor wants to know what is happening with the heart; whether or not it is healthy. A stress test can also be used to determine other vital information. A stress test can also be used, for example, to determine how much exercise is safe for one to perform. Stress tests are also used to gauge the likelihood of events such as a heart attack occurring. A doctor will always have a motive for getting you to undergo a stress test, especially considering that they are used to determine how healthy your heart is. It is just that a stress test ordered for a patient does not automatically mean the person should assume the worst.

Various factors can influence the reliability of the isotope stress test.

For example, a target heart rate must be attained, and of course the image quality must be sufficient. If these important factors are satisfied, then this type of stress test can offer a reliable diagnosis in approximately 85% of coronary artery disease cases. So there is not a guarantee of a 100% accurate diagnosis, and as you read there are other factors that contribute to the accuracy of a diagnosis. There are a wide range of variables that can affect the accuracy of a diagnosis, including false positives. A doctor specializing in cardiology will then look over the results to determine the presence of any issues that could be structural or functional in nature. Areas of normal blood supply contrast greatly with areas of reduced blood flow, which is why pictures from nuclear stress tests are so useful.