The Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease: In Search of a “One-Stop Shop”?

Flow chart showing current diagnostic work-up of CAD. Patients with intermediate likelihood of CAD who do not immediately qualify for angiography undergo noninvasive testing, often sequentially. Multiple imaging modalities and protocols are available, such as nuclear scintigraphy, stress echocardiography, and MRI. Diagnostic angiography is eventually performed on many patients to reduce level of uncertainty in presence of discordant or negative results. ECG = electrocardiography; Dob Echo = dobutamine echocardiography; MRI = magnetic resonance imaging.