Assessment of Patients with Suspected Coronary Artery Disease

Cardiovascular disease continues to be the single greatest cause of morbidity and mortality for men and women in the United States despite the reduction in mortality that has been seen over recent years. This underscores the importance of early identification of patients most at risk for the development of coronary artery disease. Stress myocardial perfusion imaging has been validated as an efficient non-invasive modality in the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD). Although extremely useful, the efficacy of myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is dependent on appropriate utilization and testing should be performed when the results will significantly affect clinical management. While the evaluation of patients with no known CAD requires careful selection, the identification of at-risk patients provides important management data.