[Indications for cornary angiography]

Abstract

This is a summary of relative indications for the selection of patients for coronary angiography. Coronary angiography is an important part of clinical evaluation of patients with ischemic heart disease, valve heart disease, cardiomyopathies. Main groups of patients with ischemic heart disease are: angina pectoris after low levels of effort despite a good medical treatment, unstable angina, variant angina, angina with high risk of acute coronary syndromes from noninvasive exercise testing. In addition coronary angiography is indicated in patients with unexplained congestive heart failure, in patients with acute myocardial infarction with mechanical complication requiring cardiac surgery such as hemodynamically important mitral insufficiency, large ventricular septal defect or a large aneurysm leading to heart failure. Also in patients with sudden death syndrome unrelated to acute myocardial infarction. Patients with silent ischemia with known coronary artery disease and with known risk factors should undergo coronary angiography. Indication for coronary angiography is also in patients with hemodynamically important valvular, subvalvular or supravalvular heart disease in whom corrective surgery is contemplated.