Since it was introduced less than 100 years ago, analysis of the circulatory response to exercise as a measure of cardiac function has undergone remarkable development. Most recently this approach has incorporated the burgeoning technology of the last half of the 20th century to meet the physiological and diagnostic needs of scientist and clinicians. The ease of administration, economy and abundant data that characterize exercise testing for its relative staying power as the most frequently utilized noninvasive method of cardiovascular evaluation. The basic modalities of exercise electrocardiography of treadmill and bicycle have been extended by noninvasive cardiac imaging techniques, including scintigraphy and echocardiography, that have provided new insights in myocardial function during exertion and pharmacologic stress. At the same time, traditional exercise electrocardiography has also been refined by innovations that have broadened its applications. Exercise Testing: Current Concepts and Recent Advances affords the reader a state-of-the-art presentation of the diverse and expanding methods of exercise testing and their roles in patient management. The contributors to this volume include individuals who have made seminal contributions to the field during the last several decades. Indeed, it is legitimate to designate this group as a Who's Who of Exercise Testing'. It is our hope that this book will enhance the reader's understanding of contemporary methods of exercise testing, as well as provide a glimpse into future directions of this science, that this knowledge is applied to optimal diagnosis and management of our patients.

Since it was introduced less than 100 years ago, analysis of the circulatory response to exercise as a measure of cardiac function has undergone remarkable development. Most recently this approach has incorporated the burgeoning technology of the last half of the 20th century to meet the physiological and diagnostic needs of scientist and clinicians. The ease of administration, economy and abundant data that characterize exercise testing for its relative staying power as the most frequently utilized noninvasive method of cardiovascular evaluation. The basic modalities of exercise electrocardiography of treadmill and bicycle have been extended by noninvasive cardiac imaging techniques, including scintigraphy and echocardiography, that have provided new insights in myocardial function during exertion and pharmacologic stress. At the same time, traditional exercise electrocardiography has also been refined by innovations that have broadened its applications. Exercise Testing: Current Concepts and Recent Advances affords the reader a state-of-the-art presentation of the diverse and expanding methods of exercise testing and their roles in patient management. The contributors to this volume include individuals who have made seminal contributions to the field during the last several decades. Indeed, it is legitimate to designate this group as a `Who's Who of Exercise Testing'. It is our hope that this book will enhance the reader's understanding of contemporary methods of exercise testing, as well as provide a glimpse into future directions of this science, that this knowledge is applied to optimal diagnosis and management of our patients.

Although the general format of Stress Testing has not been changed in the Fifth Edition, the chapters have been thoroughly revised and updated. 'Take Home' messages are sprinkled throughout the book to emphasize major concepts. The chapter on electrocardiographic changes has been completely reorganized to highlight the importance of unconventional markers of ischemia. Two new chapters cover the role of exercise echocardiography and exercise testing in congestive heart failure.

The sixth edition of Ellestad's classic text on cardiac stress testing has been extensively updated and re-written to communicate contemporary understanding of the classical principles of stress testing to clinicians and researchers, students and seasoned practitioners alike. The current techniques for performing stress tests presented herein reflect major technologic advances in imaging, physiologic monitoring and the assessment of cardiovascular risk, addressing fundamental paradigm shifts in interventional, surgical and medical treatment of heart disease. Moreover, the text addresses the dramatic changes that are occurring in patient demographics and the environmental, socioeconomic, gender and genomic factors that crucially impact heart disease and warrant attention when performing cardiac stress testing. Chapters on the physiology of exercise testing including practical details regarding protocols for conducting the stress test, proper supervision, important parameters to be monitored, and the diagnostic and prognostic information to be gleaned from the electrocardiogram set the stage for expanded chapters on the use of cardiac imaging in conjunction with stress testing. Physiologic and metabolic considerations during stress testing are covered in detail. Application of stress testing to special populations, such as women, children, athletes, and individuals in both high and low risk groups are covered in new chapters. Finally, the authors address the use of stress testing in limited resource environments and discuss global changes in the incidence of atherosclerosis, and suggest how stress testing may evolve.

Can we convince our youth that appreciation of the ideas that came from the past, combined with the innovations of the present, will reveal a new reality? That new concepts will make life better for us all? In the Middle Ages, there was a general belief that almost all significant ideas had come from the ancients. To be educated you had to have learned what Socrates, Galen, and other recognized sages had revealed. Although we have learned a lot from studying history, I feel that our ideas today, which lead to discoveries in science, in society and in business, as well as those in the past, lead to our understanding of each other and are changing the way we live.