What does a normal stress test mean?

A normal test result indicates there is sufficient and unrestricted blood flow to your heart, both during periods of rest and exercise. Generally, there’s little concern for coronary artery disease and, in most cases, you won’t require any further testing.

Can you still have heart problems with a normal stress test?

Stress tests can detect when arteries have 70\% or more blockage. This severe narrowing is what causes the severe chest pain called angina. But normal results from a stress test do not rule out the possibility of a future heart attack. This is because a plaque can still rupture, form clots and block an artery.

How accurate is a nuclear stress test?

The nuclear stress test is generally considered to be the most accurate type of stress test. It has a sensitivity of about 81\%, meaning that it will miss about 19\% of high-grade blockages.

Does a nuclear stress test show blockages?

The nuclear stress test is most often used to estimate the severity of any blockages that might be present due to coronary artery disease. 1 This study is generally thought to be the most accurate non-invasive method for diagnosing coronary artery blockages.

What is a normal summed rest score?

Summed stress scores of less than 3 are considered normal, whereas scores of 4–7, 8–12, and 13 or higher are indicative of low, intermediate, and high risk for a hard cardiac event. When a perfusion defect is identified, its location, size, severity, and reversibility must be reported.

What is a good score on a stress test?

Low risk (score > 5) indicates a 5-year survival of 97\%. Intermediate risk (score between 4 and -11) indicates 5-year survival of 90\%. High risk (score < -11) indicates 5-year survival of 65\%.

What if echo test is normal?

If your echocardiogram is normal, no further testing may be needed. If the results are concerning, you may be referred to a doctor trained in heart conditions (cardiologist) for more tests.

Is a nuclear stress test better than an echo stress test?

Although stress echocardiography may have comparable ability to detect coronary artery disease, current data suggest that stress echocardiography detects significantly less jeopardized viable myocardium than stress nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging and consequently fewer patients at risk for cardiac events.

What is normal myocardial perfusion?

Abstract. Background: Normal or near normal myocardial perfusion stress imaging (MPI) suggests the absence of life-threatening coronary artery disease (CAD). Nevertheless, there are instances where severe left main or three-vessel CAD may be present despite no significant perfusion abnormalities on MPI.

Who interprets a nuclear stress test?

After a nuclear cardiologist specializing in nuclear imaging interprets your test, he’ll give the results to your cardiologist who will then contact you and explain the results. It may take up to 72 hours before you are notified.

What you can expect to happen during a nuclear stress test?

Although extremely rare, it’s possible that a nuclear stress test could cause a heart attack. Dizziness or chest pain. These symptoms can occur during a stress test. Other possible signs and symptoms include nausea, shakiness, headache, flushing, shortness of breath and anxiety.

What is the difference between stress test and nuclear stress?

A cardiac nuclear stress test evaluates how well the heart is functioning. It images blood flow to the heart muscle during and after exercise. Areas of the heart that are damaged will have less blood flow than the rest of the heart. The difference between a cardiac nuclear stress test and a regular exercise stress test is the imaging.

A nuclear stress test is supposed to be 85\% accurate and that’s a step up from a standard treadmill stress test combined with echo. So I imagine that a standard treadmill stress test/echocardiogram is somewhat less reliable.

What is it like to have a nuclear stress test?

You may need a nuclear stress test if a routine stress test didn’t pinpoint the cause of symptoms such as chest pain or shortness of breath. A nuclear stress test may also be used to guide your treatment if you’ve been diagnosed with a heart condition.