Non obstructive coronary artery disease in patients admitted for elective coronary angiography

Objective: To determine the frequency of non-obstructive coronary artery disease in patients admitted electively without known heart disease at a local tertiary care cardiac hospital. Methods: During the period May 1st 2012 to April 30th 2013, we have collected data from TABBA Heart Institute (THI) Cath Registry, for patients who came for elective coronary angiography without known heart disease at TABBA Heart Institute a local tertiary cardiac care centre. The patient demographic characteristics, risk factors, symptoms and the result of noninvasive testing were correlated with the presence of non obstructive and obstructive coronary artery disease. Data was analyzed through SPSS version 17 and chi square test was applied for significance of the data. Results: Out of 1478 cases examined, 368 cases were enrolled in this study that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Out of these, 273 (74.2%) were obstructive CAD cases whereas 95(25.8%) were found to have nonobstructive coronary angiogram. In these 95 cases, 67 cases had gone for cath without non-invasive testingi.e. 18.2%. Conclusion: Although only 18.2% cases had gone for unnecessary angiogram procedure, it could be easily avoided just by following the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines.