Selection of patients for coronary arteriography

This is a review of relative indications and contraindications for the selection of patients for coronary arteriography. Patients with angina pectoris at rest ("unstable" angina pectoris) and after low levels of effort despite a good medical regimen, those with chest pain that cannot be distinguished from angina pectoris at low or moderate levels of effort with or without abnormal 201Tl perfusion scans or radionuclide ventriculograms during stress, and those with suspected significant left main coronary arterial stenosis based on exercise testing should undergo coronary arteriography. In addition, coronary arteriography is usually an important part of the clinical evaluation of the patient with unexplained and clinically important congestive heart failure, recent myocardial infarction treated with thrombolytic therapy, a mechanical complication of myocardial infarction requiring cardiac surgery, including a large ventricular septal defect, hemodynamically important mitral insufficiency, or a large ventricular aneurysm leading to heart failure, hemodynamically important valvular, subvalvular, or supravalvular heart disease in whom corrective surgery is contemplated, suspected anomalous origin or communication of a major coronary artery, and sudden death syndrome unrelated to acute myocardial infarction.