rss
Postgrad Med J 1995;71:480-482 doi:10.1136/pgmj.71.838.480
  • Research Article

Angiography and the aetiology of heart failure.

  1. C. I. Brookes,
  2. P. Hart,
  3. B. E. Keogh,
  4. J. G. Cleland
  1. Department of Cardiology, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.

      Abstract

      The diagnosis of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy should not be made without first performing a coronary angiogram. If the cause of heart failure is unknown this should be stated rather than attributing the cause to dilated cardiomyopathy. Severe ventricular dysfunction may improve dramatically after revascularisation in some cases of coronary disease. Preservation of R waves on the surface electrocardiogram suggests the presence of hibernating myocardium but thallium scintigraphy or positron emission tomography scanning should be employed to investigate this further.

      This Article

      1. Abstract
      2. PDF

      Responses

      1. Submit a response
      2. No responses published

      Register for free content

      The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.

      Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.