EVALUATION BETWEEN ANGINA SYMPTOMS AND DEGREES OF CORONARY OBSTRUCTION IN PATIENTS INDICATED FOR CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY

Abstract

Introduction: Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) have angina as the main clinical manifestation. Angina limits the quality of life and can be evaluated by several methods being one of the main cardiac catheterization (CATE). Objective: This study aims to compare the symptoms of pre-intervention angina with the findings in CATE. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 50 patients referred to the hemodynamics service to undergo CATE for CAD between August and October 2020. The Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) was used to assess the most relevant clinical manifestations of CAD before intervention. After CATE, the images were analyzed by two experienced interventional cardiologists to determine the lesions. A sequential analysis of the right and left coronary arteries, as well as their main branches, and eventual surgical grafts previously implanted was performed. Patients were divided into two groups: those with coronary lesions ≥ 70% and those with white CATE (lesions < 70% or no lesions). Subsequently, they were compared according to their baseline characteristics and scores obtained from the SAQ. Statistical analysis used unpaired t and chi-square tests. Non-parametric measures were tested by Fisher’s test, with significance at 5%. Results: Patients with lesions ≥ 70% had worse health perceptions when compared to patients with white CATE (Lesions ≥ 70%: 68.0 ± 17.3 points versus white CATE: 81.3 ± 14.1 points, p: 0.01). Other QAS domains did not show significant differences. Conclusion: It was observed that patients with coronary lesions ≥ 70% had a worse perception of health than those with white CATE. The SAQ is an important instrument in the clinical assessment of patients with CAD and may be an option for evaluating symptoms in this population.