WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Researchers say treadmill stress test may not be best at finding heart disease

Researchers say treadmill stress test may not be best at finding heart disease

(National-NBC) Aug. 18, 2004 - The most common test for heart disease may not be the best one. Most doctors use a treadmill stress test to help identify hardening arteries in the heart, but new report finds the treadmill test might not always make the best diagnosis.

Researchers say the treadmill test can sometimes overlook early stages of heart disease.

In the study, over half the patients with normal treadmill results had calcium deposits in their arteries that were not detected.

Researchers say a coronary calcium screening often works better than the treadmill test to see these small calcium deposits that can block blood flow. It uses a CT scan to take a 3D picture of the heart and shows doctors exactly how much calcium has built up inside the heart.

Researchers say the coronary calcium test is available around the country but is usually not paid for by most health insurance companies, so it's often not prescribed. They're now working to change that.

The study is in the Journal of American College of Cardiology.

posted 10:50am by Chris Rees