STRESS ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY - FROM PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL TOY TO DIAGNOSTIC-TOOL

Stress echocardiography is no longer considered an esoteric research tool in the hands of a few high tech laboratories but, instead, an extension of daily echocardiographic diagnosis. In striking contrast to exercise, pharmacological stresses (in particular, dipyridamole and dobutamine) are the ideal partners of echocardiography because they minimize factors degrading image quality during exercise and allow continuous monitoring throughout the stress, and therefore exact assessment of the timing of the dyssynergy, which carries the single most important information for the anatomic and prognostic stratification of these patients.