Hanyang Med Rev.  2006 May;26(2):23-38.

Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease

• Kim KS

Abstract

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common type of heart disease. The cause of CAD is atherosclerosis, the gradual buildup of plaques in blood vessels that feed heart. Over time, these plaques - deposits of fat, cholesterol, calcium and other cellular sludge from blood - can narrow coronary arteries, thus affects arteries that deliver blood, oxygen and nutrients to the heart. Diminished blood flow to the heart can cause chest pain. CAD develops slowly and silently over decades. CAD patients have high rates of sudden cardiac death, therefore, CAD is a major event of modern clinical medicine. There are variant symptoms seen in CAD patients, so, it is difficult to evaluate the disease correctly and to make a decision on whether or not perform reperfusion therapy with acute coronary syndrome patients. How to correctly evaluate CAD with the patient's symptoms and other clinical characteristics is very important. The purpose of this review is to demonstrate the typical and atypical symptoms, diagnostic criteria, and differential diagnostic approaches of CAD.

Keyword

Coronary artery disease; Diagnosis

MeSH Terms

Acute Coronary Syndrome
Arteries
Atherosclerosis
Blood Vessels
Calcium
Chest Pain
Cholesterol
Clinical Medicine
Coronary Artery Disease*
Coronary Vessels*
Death, Sudden, Cardiac
Diagnosis*
Heart
Heart Diseases
Humans
Oxygen
Reperfusion
Sewage
Calcium
Cholesterol
Oxygen
Sewage