What Are the Risks of Stress Testing?

There's little risk of being seriously harmed from any type of stress testing. The chance of these tests causing a heart attack or death is about 1 in 5,000. More common but less serious side effects linked to stress testing include:

• Arrhythmia (an irregular heartbeat). This often will go away quickly once you're at rest. But if it persists, you may need to go to the hospital and be monitored or get treatment.
• Low blood pressure, which can cause you to feel dizzy or faint. This will go away once your heart stops working hard; it doesn't usually require treatment.
• Jitteriness or discomfort while getting medicine to make your heart work harder (you will be given medicine if you can't exercise). These side effects usually disappear shortly after you stop getting the medicine, but in some cases may last a few hours.