Dobutamine Stress Echocardiogram

To do a DSE, your child’s doctor will give them an IV (intravenous or into a vein) medicine called dobutamine, which will increase your child’s heart rate and simulate the effects of exercise. While your child’s heart rate is up (under stress) an echocardiogram (ultrasound pictures of the heart muscle) is performed to test if the blood supply to their heart.

We will give your child general anesthesia for this procedure, so they will be fully asleep. General anesthesia can be given through an IV tube that goes into a vein or by breathing in gas. Your child will not feel the effects of dobutamine.

Your child may need a DSE after a heart transplant to:

• Check their coronary arteries and how they supply blood to the heart muscle
• Check their heart's function in response to exercise
• Decide how much exercise is safe for your child

There may be other reasons your child’s doctor may suggest a DSE.

DSE’s are performed in the heart catheterization lab. In most cases, your child can have a DSE during their regularly scheduled surveillance biopsy.

• Since your child will need general anesthesia for this procedure, you can expect to get instructions about what your child can eat and drink before the procedure.
• Ask your child’s cardiologist about any medicines, like carvedilol or metoprolol. Your child may need to stop taking before the DSE begins.
• An IV catheter will also need to be placed, which can be done once your child is asleep.

• Since the DSE will require general anesthesia, you can expect your child to spend a short time recovering after the procedure. After a short period of observation, you should be able to take your child home the same day.
• The transplant team will review all the results and contact you for follow-up.
• The risks of a DSE are similar to your child’s risk with very strenuous exercise. Some of the possible side effects include:
  
  • Chest pain
  • High blood pressure (Hypertension)
  • Irregular heartbeats or arrhythmias
  • Dizziness
  • Headache
  • Sweating
  • Nausea
  • Fatigue