Who Needs Coronary Angiography?

Your doctor may recommend coronary angiography if you have signs or symptoms of coronary heart disease (CHD). Signs and symptoms include:

• Angina. This is unexplained pain or pressure in your chest. You also may feel it in your shoulders, arms, neck, jaw, or back. Angina may only happen when you're active. Emotional stress also can trigger the pain.
• Sudden cardiac arrest. This is a condition in which your heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating.
• Results from an EKG (electrocardiogram), exercise stress test, or other test that suggest you have heart disease.

You also may need coronary angiography on an emergency basis if you're having a heart attack. This test, combined with a procedure called angioplasty (AN-jee-oh-plas-tee), can open the blocked artery that's causing the heart attack and prevent further damage to your heart.

Coronary angiography also can help your doctor decide how to treat CHD after a heart attack. This is especially true if the heart attack caused major damage to your heart, or if you're still having chest pain.