Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 11, 2026

Interventional Diagnostic Procedure: A Practical Guide for the Assessment of Coronary Vascular Function
Published on: March 15, 2022
Endotyping-informed therapy for patients with chest pain and no obstructive coronary artery disease: a randomized
Conor P Bradley1,2, Gemma McKinley3, Vanessa Orchard2
1British Heart Foundation Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Insights
Stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guided management improved chest pain diagnosis and quality of life in patients with unobstructed coronary arteries. This approach reclassified diagnoses in over half of participants, significantly enhancing their health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Diagnostic Imaging
- Clinical Trials
Background:
- Many patients with chest pain lack obstructive coronary artery disease, leaving diagnoses uncertain.
- Functional diagnostic tests are often not used in these cases.
- Stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can assess myocardial blood flow and detect coronary microvascular dysfunction but lacks randomized trial evidence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the clinical utility of adenosine stress cardiovascular MRI-guided management.
- To determine if this approach improves angina and health-related quality of life in patients with chest pain and unobstructed coronary arteries.
Main Methods:
- A prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled superiority trial involving 250 patients.
- Patients were randomized 1:1 to either stress cardiovascular MRI-guided management or standard care.
- The primary outcome was the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) summary score at 12 months.
Main Results:
- The diagnostic study's primary outcome (reclassification of diagnosis) was met in 53.0% of patients.
- The intervention group showed significantly higher SAQ summary scores at 12 months (70.9 vs. 52.1).
- Improvements were also noted in the EQ-5D-5L quality of life questionnaire.
Conclusions:
- Endotyping-informed therapy using stress cardiovascular MRI revised diagnoses in over half of patients with chest pain and unobstructed coronary arteries.
- This strategy significantly improved angina symptoms and health-related quality of life.
- Adenosine stress cardiovascular MRI-guided management is clinically effective for this patient group.
Abstract:
Patients undergoing invasive coronary angiography for the investigation of chest pain commonly do not have obstructive coronary artery disease. In contemporary practice, most of these individuals do not undergo functional diagnostic tests, leaving the cause of the chest pain uncertain. Stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to measure myocardial blood flow, detect coronary microvascular dysfunction and endotype individual patients, but evidence of clinical utility from randomized trials is lacking. This study was a prospective, multicenter, parallel group, 1:1 randomized, controlled superiority trial of adenosine stress cardiovascular MRI-guided management in 250 patients (mean age, 63.3 years; 50.4% female) with chest pain and unobstructed coronary arteries. The primary outcome of the diagnostic study, defined as the reclassification of the initial diagnosis based on the angiogram, occurred in 131 patients (53.0% (95% confidence interval: 46.6-59.3%); P < 0.001), indicating that the primary outcome for the diagnostic study was met. The primary outcome of the randomized trial was the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) summary score at 12 months after randomization. The mean ± s.d. SAQ summary scores at 12 months in the intervention and control groups were 70.9 ± 23.6 (21.7 ± 22.6 change from baseline) and 52.1 ± 24.1 (-0.8 ± 20.4 change from baseline) (adjusted mean difference: 20.9 (95% confidence interval: 15.8-26.0)), respectively, indicating that the primary outcome of the randomized trial was met. Improvements were also observed in the prespecified secondary outcome of the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire at 12 months (adjusted mean difference 0.09 (95% confidence interval: 0.04-0.13)). In this study of patients with chest pain and unobstructed coronary arteries, endotyping-informed therapy revised the diagnosis in more than half of the participants and improved angina and health-related quality of life. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04805814 .
Related Concept Videos
Angina III: Clinical Manifestations and Assessment
Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System I:Echocardiography
Indications: Echocardiography is utilized to diagnose heart failure, valve disorders, and myocardial infarction. It also assesses cardiac structures' size, shape, and motion,...
Coronary Artery Disease V: Interprofessional Care
Angina V: Nursing Management
Angina II: Classification
Angina IV: Management

