Angiography

Angiography

The American College of Cardiology recommends generally limiting angiography to people who have angina, or heart-related chest pain, as well as abnormal results on a cardiac stress test; that’s a simpler, safer, less-expensive procedure that measures the heart’s function while it’s stressed by exercise or medication. But a substantial number of doctors ignore that guideline and skip the stress test before angiography.

● RECOMMENDATION:
Agree to angiography without a stress test only if you have heart related chest pain and one of the following conditions, which make that preliminary test excessively risky: unstable angina(heart pain that strikes when you’re resting or gets progressively worse), aortic stenosis(narrowing of the heart’s main value), or congestive heart failure(inadequate pumping). And don’t undergo the calcium test to determine the need for angiography.