Abstract

A lot of people with coronary artery disease do not have specific symptoms, and myocardial infarction or death are the first manifestation of the disease. New accurate, non-invasive and safe screening methods are required that can assess the prognosis of patients during routine examinations performed on millions of people. The aim of this review was to discuss the current literature regarding the utility of non-invasive ultrasound imaging of the coronary artery in assessing a patient’s prognosis in daily practice. Assessment of coronary artery flow during common stress echocardiography or echocardiography can provide additive incremental prognostic information without the burden of radiation. Exercise or pharmacologic stress echocardiography tests combined with coronary flow velocity reserve assessment has advantages over stress tests based only on regional wall motion abnormalities. Scanning of main coronary arteries as an addition to routine echocardiography can reveal patients at high risk of adverse cardiac events in the near future.

摘要

很多冠心病患者没有特异性症状，心肌梗死或死亡是该病的首发表现。需要新的准确、无创和安全的筛查方法，以便在对数百万人进行的常规检查中评估患者的预后。本综述的目的是讨论当前关于冠状动脉无创超声成像在日常实践中评估患者预后的实用性的文献。在普通负荷超声心动图或超声心动图期间评估冠状动脉血流可以提供额外的增量预后信息，而无需辐射负担。运动或药物负荷超声心动图试验结合冠状动脉血流速度储备评估比仅基于局部室壁运动异常的负荷试验具有优势。扫描主要冠状动脉作为常规超声心动图的补充，可以揭示患者在不久的将来发生不良心脏事件的高风险。