Is angiogram required for episodes of chest pain?
Patient: I'm a 45 year old male with mild-to-moderate restrictive lung issues (cause unknown). I've had a few episodes of chest pain radiating in left arm - went to the emerg once - they said there was something in ecg but enzymes were normal, so no heart attack. They referred me to a cardiologist who did stress test - was normal, nuclear scan - again normal but now he wants to do an angiogram. If all the tests are normal, should I still go through this test? As he explained there are some risks involved. Doctor: Hi,Usually when stress test is normal we don't go for further examinations, such as angiography. Rarely, there are cases, when suspicion remained, despite tests and the patient has additional risk factors, such as familly hystory of heart attacks, strokes, heavy smoker, very high cholesterol.In such cases we may order angiography to be in the safe side.Take care