Are there any risks of stress echocardiography?
Consultant Cardiologist Navtej Chahal discusses any risks of stress echocardiography
Stress echocardiography is a very safe technique. It uses ultrasound, which doesn’t carry any radiation, and the stress procedure itself usually involves physiological, natural stress, for example, running on a treadmill.
In a minority of patients who are unable to perform the exercise on the treadmill, we would use a drug called Dobutamine which is a mild form of adrenaline and there is a small risk of that causing arrhythmia of the heart. We also inject contrast dye for patients undergoing either exercise or Dobutamine stress echocardiography and this also carries a very small risk of any reactions.
I strongly urge you to take our heart disease online self-test to assess your risk of developing heart disease in the future. It will take you less than five minutes and will give you a good idea if you are at increased risk and whether or not you need to see a specialist.
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About the cardiologists
The Many Beats team consists of not one, but four highly experienced consultant cardiologists
Dr Navtej Chahal
Consultant Cardiologist
PhD FESC FACC
Navtej is a Consultant Cardiologist at Many Beats. He also consults at the London Northwest NHS Trust and the Royal Brompton Hospital, London having qualified from Guy’s and St Thomas’ Medical School in 2001. He is an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Imperial College London…
Dr Navin Chandra
Consultant Cardiologist
MD, MRCP, MBBS, BSc
Navin is a Consultant Cardiologist at Many Beats. He is also a Consultant Cardiologist at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust and an Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust. He qualified from Guy’s, King’s & St. Thomas’s in 2004...
Dr Ahmed Elghamaz
Consultant Cardiologist
FRCP, MB BCh
Ahmed is a Consultant Cardiologist at Many Beats. He also consults at Northwick Park Hospital and London North West Healthcare University Hospitals NHS Trust and is an Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust. He completed his junior…
Dr Joban Sehmi
Consultant Cardiologist
BSc, MBBS, MRCP, PhD
Joban is a Consultant Cardiologist at Many Beats. His NHS practice is at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS trust. He sees patients privately at Spire in Bushey and Bishops Wood Hospital in Northwood. He trained in medicine at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ medical school and qualified in 2003 with numerous academic awards…
