A small needle is placed into your arm vein. Dobutamine, a drug that makes your heart beat faster, is slowly dripped into the vein . The amount of dobutamine is increased every 3 minutes until a set heart rate, based on your age, is reached. Echocardiograms are recorded at regular intervals during the test. When you reach the target heart rate or when your doctor decides you have had enough of the drug, the drip is stopped and a final echocardiogram recorded.
Some doctors use another drug, dipyridamole.
This drug has less effect on heart rate but causes increased blood flow in the heart's arteries so that the function of the contracting heart muscle can be evaluated. It drips into your vein over a 10-minute period. The echo recordings are taken as they are with dobutamine. After the test, you will be allowed to go home and resume your usual activities. Your doctor will review the pictures later.