Treadmill exercise echocardiography: methodology and clinical role.

Exercise echocardiography using treadmill exercise and immediate post-exercise imaging is an accurate means for detecting and stratifying coronary artery disease. It is applicable to patients with chest pain syndromes in whom the initial diagnosis is being contemplated and also in follow-up of patients after myocardial infarction or interventional procedures. Numerous studies have demonstrated that its accuracy is equivalent to that of competing radionuclide imaging techniques and that it has particular relevance in patients with non-diagnostic electrocardiograms. In addition to evaluating patients for the presence of coronary artery disease, because of the highly versatile nature of the imaging modality utilized (two-dimensional echocardiography), stress echocardiography is an excellent tool for evaluating atypical symptoms such as dyspnoea and fatigue.