Coronary angiography as a prognostic tool.

Coronary angiography was introduced into clinical practice more than 40 years ago revolutionizing the clinical understanding of the coronary artery disease and setting the stage for all the modern treatments such as coronary bypass surgery (CABG), percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PTCA), and thrombolysis. Coronary angiography has well-known pitfalls and limitations in the detection of coronary atherosclerosis. It is not very unusual to see in the routine clinical practice that the coronary angiography is less well appreciated as a prognostic tool. One reason for this may be the traditional teaching of the coronary angiography that favors the technical aspects of the catheterization and the radiographic interpretation skills. In this paper, the prognostic significance of coronary angiographic findings is reviewed and the clinical issues encountered in daily practice are highlighted.