Dear Colleagues,

Cardiac stress testing is one of the most fundamental and widely used tests for the evaluation of subjects with known or suspected cardiovascular disease.

Cardiac adaptation to stress, especially physical exercise, gives relevant information on the pathophysiology, diagnosis and prognostic stratification of cardiac disorders.

The exercise electrocardiographic test has been used by clinicians for more than half a century and its durability can be attributed to its evolution over time. It is easy to administer, perform and interpret; it is reliable, inexpensive and readily available in hospital and clinical settings.

The power of ECG testing is greatly enhanced when used appropriately with adjunctive modalities to measure gas exchange and ventilation parameters, or with imaging techniques such as echocardiography, nuclear medicine, and more recently, magnetic resonance.

Furthermore, the use of pharmacologic stress as an alternative to exercise is now widely used in the management of several cardiovascular diseases.

Potential list of Topics:

1. Exercise Physiology: cardiac adaptation to exercise in health and disease
2. The ischemic cascade: stress echocardiography in subjects with suspected coronary artery disease
3. Prognostic value of stress echocardiography: the ABCDE protocol
4. Stress test in valvular heart disease: aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation
5. Nuclear Cardiology stress test
6. Magnetic Resonance imaging during stress
7. Cardiopulmonary exercise test in the functional evaluation of heart failure
8. Cardiopulmonary exercise test in the evaluation of pulmonary circulation
9. Cardiopulmonary exercise test for the prescription of exercise protocols
10. Electrocardiographic stress test in the era of cardiac imaging
11. Preoperative stress testing before non-cardiac surgery
12. Blood pressure response to exercise in the diagnosis and prognosis of hypertension

 

Pompilio Faggiano and Andrea Rossi

Guest Editors