The more radiation that you receive over the course of your life, the greater the risk of having cancerous tumors or of inducing changes in genes. The changes in genes possibly could cause abnormalities or disease in your future offspring. The radiation in this study is not expected to greatly increase this risk, but the exact increase in such risks is not known. Women who are or could be pregnant should receive no unnecessary radiation and should not participate in this study. The exercise stress test is a standard clinical procedure which is routinely performed on many people every year for diagnosis and evaluation of their condition.
Adverse effects are very rare, but have occurred.
The mortality of this test is approximately 1 in 10,000 tests, and the incidence of serious complications including prolonged abnormality of heart rhythm or prolonged chest pain is approximately 4 in 10,000 tests.