Dyspnea and Risk in Suspected Coronary Disease

Abstract

Stress testing for the detection of coronary artery disease is most useful in patients considered on clinical grounds to be at intermediate risk.1 The patient's age and sex and the nature of chest pain can be used to provide a simple estimate of the probability of coronary artery disease.2 Because the absence of chest pain has traditionally been interpreted to indicate a low likelihood of coronary disease — and, indeed, a low long-term risk — functional testing has been thought to contribute little to the evaluation of patients without angina.3 Basing a selection strategy for stress testing on the evaluation . . .