coronary angiography

(NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine) New research from NYU Langone Medical Center shows that a simple, inexpensive and noninvasive carotid artery ultrasound of the neck can be used as a preliminary diagnostic tool for coronary artery disease (CAD).

This may be an alternative to the standard, expensive and more invasive coronary angiography. The ultrasound test can also be used to rule out the diagnosis of CAD in patients presenting with reduced heart pump function.

The new study appears in the June 2010 issue of the American Heart Journal.

Using coronary angiography to test whether a patient's heart is fit enough to undergo kidney transplant is not as dangerous as once thought, researchers found.