What is the prognostic value of stress echocardiography for patients with atypical chest pain?

Abstract

Patients with atypical chest pain and no history of cardiovascular events (coronary artery disease, unstable angina, or history of percutaneous transthoracic coronary angioplasty [PTCA]) and a negative stress echocardiography test are unlikely to experience a cardiovascular event in the next 1 to 4 years. However, the positive predictive value of the test in this population is low, indicating that a positive stress echocardiography is less useful for prognostic purposes (strength of recommendation: B, based on multiple cohort studies).