Stress tests don’t have to be stressful. We offer convenient and comfortable stress testing at 15 locations throughout Central Pennsylvania. Cardiologists from the nationally renowned Heart Group are on-site to interpret your results and get you answers quickly.
What Is an Exercise Stress Test?
A stress test involves exercising while wearing electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) leads. Your doctor checks for changes in your heart while you exercise on a treadmill. Some heart changes can only be detected during exercise or while you have symptoms.
A stress test is also called an exercise electrocardiogram or a treadmill stress test. Your doctor may order a treadmill test to:
- Determine the effectiveness of medications
- Diagnose heart disease
- Find the cause of symptoms such as chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath or lightheadedness
- See how well you tolerate exercise after a heart attack or cardiothoracic (heart or chest) surgery
Stress Tests: The Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Advantage
When you come to us for stress testing, we want you to feel comfortable and reassured. Our experience with thousands of patients has shown it’s the little things that count. From caring, engaged staff to implementing patient feedback, we give you the best possible experience.
You can also expect:
- Quality care: Our staff meets several times each week to discuss our patients’ experiences with us. We go over things like patient satisfaction scores, outcomes and new ideas to improve care. These meetings ensure that we always deliver a high-quality experience.
- Accurate diagnosis: In our quality assurance program, doctors receive constant feedback about their stress test findings. This process helps us consistently deliver accurate results, so we can create effective treatment plans.
- Convenience: Our large geographical footprint means that most Lancaster County residents can get stress testing within 10 to 15 minutes of home. We always have enough equipment and staff on hand to get you in for your test within two weeks. We can get you in sooner if you can travel a few minutes farther within the county.
- Fast results: We know waiting for test results can be stressful. That’s why all our cardiac testing locations have Heart Group cardiology experts on-site. This setup ensures there is a heart testing specialist available to analyze your results right away.
- Stress tests without exercise: Chemical stress tests are available for people who can’t exercise. During a chemical stress test, we give you medication that helps your heart and arteries copy the effects of exercise. A fast-acting reversal agent then stops the medication after we record any heart changes.
Types of Stress Tests
We offer most types of stress testing, including:
Exercise Stress Tests
During an exercise electrocardiogram:
- We stick electrodes on your arms, legs and chest.
- We connect these small sensors to wire leads. The leads connect to equipment that monitors your heart and blood pressure.
- You start by walking slowly on a treadmill as we gradually increase the speed and incline.
- An exercise EKG translates your heart's electrical activity into line tracings on a page.
- We ask you if you are having symptoms as you exercise and make sure you are comfortable.
- We watch you for about 10 to 15 minutes after the test as your heart rate returns to normal.
Nuclear Stress Tests
A nuclear stress test measures how much blood is in your heart muscle before and after an exercise stress test. A special test medicine (radioactive tracer) highlights any differences. We take pictures of the radioactive tracer using scanners called nuclear detectors.
Our sophisticated nuclear detectors make it safer and easier to get nuclear stress tests. They reduce the radiation dose and test time by half compared to traditional scanners.
Stress Echocardiograms
A stress echocardiogram is two tests in one: an echocardiogram and exercise stress test. Echocardiography creates moving pictures of your heart using high-frequency sound waves (ultrasound) before and after the exercise stress test.
During the echocardiogram part, a cardiac sonographer sends sound waves into your chest using a handheld instrument called a transducer. The sound waves create pictures on a video monitor.
Your cardiologist compares the ultrasound images when your heart was at rest vs. under stress.
Exercise Stress Test Locations
We offer inpatient and outpatient stress tests at our main Heart & Vascular Institute location at Lancaster General Hospital. You can also get a treadmill test at one of our convenient outpatient cardiac testing locations near where you live, work or receive heart care.
We offer nuclear stress testing at two locations:
Schedule a Stress Test
To schedule a stress test, call 717-544-5941.