Pediatric exercise testing.

The number of diagnostic modalities available to the pediatric cardiologist continues to escalate. However, with so many choices, it is often difficult to know what test is most efficacious in a given situation or how often to repeat it. This review summarizes the data from several exercise studies published within the past year. These studies address exercise as a diagnostic modality in children and adults with and without heart disease and compare exercise testing with other diagnostic modalities. They demonstrate some of the variables that should be routinely assessed during an exercise test, and they introduce many avenues for continued research.