[Cardiologic diagnosis in general practice]

The cornerstone of cardiological diagnostic evaluation is still the patient's history and physical examination. In the doctor's office non invasive diagnostic procedures are the major means of obtaining the diagnosis necessary for treatment. Aside from ECG and exercise ECG Holter monitoring and echocardiography are the most valuable methods. New possibilities are offered by ST-segment evaluation in Holter monitoring and the combination of doppler and ultrasound techniques, the latter often making invasive studies superfluous. There are special indications for radionuclide imaging. Phonocardiography has been largely replaced by echocardiography.