[Stress echocardiography--an evaluation of current status]

Exercise echocardiography, a versatile, noninvasive diagnostic test of left ventricular wall motion performed at rest and under induced stress, enables the cardiologist to detect and assess coronary artery disease. Stress-induced ischemia is thereby expressed as left ventricular regional wall motion abnormality. By using various physical (bicycle or treadmill exercise) and pharmacological (dipyridamole, dobutamine, adenosine) stress inducers, the test provides information about the localization and extent of coronary artery disease in addition to detecting stress-induced coronary insufficiency. As regards diagnostic accuracy in detecting coronary artery disease, stress echocardiography is superior to exercise electrocardiography and, according to the available data, it is comparable to perfusion scintigraphic testing. Studies have demonstrated the clinical value of stress echocardiography in detecting residual stenosis after angioplasty, for diagnosing bypass dysfunction after heart surgery, for preoperative risk assessment in noncardiac surgeries, and for obtaining prognostic information, e.g., after myocardial infarction. Preliminary studies have shown that pharmacological exercise echocardiography is able to identify viable myocardium in the early phases after acute myocardial infarction. Furthermore, it is able to predict the functional success of revascularization in chronic regional left ventricular dysfunction. In addition to the wide range of diagnostic possibilities in coronary artery disease, other notable applications include stress testing for assessment of global left ventricular pump function in patients with aortic regurgitation or cardiomyopathy.