the cardiac stress test

I went to the cardiologist last summer and had an electrocardiogram done. He recommended I also do a cardiac stress test.

So, I finally got around to it 8 months later. The test is done on a treadmill with electrodes attached to chest, arms and back. You go thru stages of gradually increasing speed and inclination of the treadmill. It’s called the Bruce Protocol.

For the average guy like me they don’t hook up a mask and measure oxygen intake and lung capacity. The doc said professional athletes regularly do that test at the sports medicine clinic. He said if I really wanted to do it he could arrange it. 

I only went thru 5 stages as I was in my street shoes and couldn’t really break into a run very well.

My heart rate went up to 164 bpm so, yes I was suffering and worked up a good sweat.

After the test the doc looked at the printout and saw a little blip after each beat while at rest at the beginning of the test, calling it an atypical anterior repolarization. Repolarization is the restoration of the electrical potential of the myocardial cell. During the test the blip disappeared. During the cool down he noted a few small late blips. He said all was within the normal range.

My Q-T interval (the time required for depolarization and repolarization of ventricles) is 0.40 sec, which is normal (0.34 to 0.42) according to the doc and this web page BasicECG.