SYMPOSIUM ON CORONARY HEART DISEASE

Abstract

No technic or procedure yet devised surpasses the carefully taken clinical history in the diagnosis of angina pectoris. The electro-cardiogram recorded during an attack, occurring with the patient's ordinary activity or, in the few instances in which it is indicated after standard exercise, is particularly helpful. The ballistocardiogram, though of suggestive value in some instances, has not yet achieved that degree of correlation with clinical findings to be uniformly valuable as a diagnostic tool, in view of the progressive increase in the proportion of abnormal records in the years beyond 40. The fact remains that the incidence of severe coronary atherosclerosis is so high, particularly among men 45 years of age and older, as to demand continual effort to differentiate angina pectoris from other types of chest discomfort, to detect its earliest manifestations, or even to search out some refinement of diagnostic technic that may predict the consequences of coronary artery disease before coronary insufficiency has supervened.