A recent study suggests that many patients may not get the stress test the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends prior to percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), such as stenting and angioplasty. A stress test can weed out patients with minimal symptoms who may not need risky invasive procedures, but Stephen Ellis, MD, Section Head of Invasive/Interventional Cardiology at Cleveland Clinics Heart and Vascular Institute, says the study findings may reflect the fact that the test isnt always accurate: "I think the main reason stress tests arent more often used is that theyre generally considered quite unreliable."
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